Maiden flight to Red Sea International Airport marks project milestone
The airport now features a dedicated twice-weekly flight from Riyadh
The first flight to the new Red Sea International Airport (RSI) in Saudi Arabia touched down on the runway on Thursday, marking a huge milestone for The Red Sea project. Departing from King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, the Saudia flight took under two hours to make the maiden journey.
“We promised to make The Red Sea a place where people from all around the world would come to experience the best of Saudi culture, hospitality, and nature. Now, with the first flight touching down at Red Sea International Airport, and our first resorts receiving bookings, our position on the global tourism map is all but secured,” said John Pagano, Group CEO of Red Sea Global (RSG).
The flight marks the start of a new twice-weekly service. The flights return to Riyadh later the same day. Flights depart RUH each Thursday at 10.50am, before departing again to the Kingdom’s capital from RSI at 13:35pm. A second service departs RUH every Saturday at 12.50pm, with the return flight for RUH departing at 15:35pm.
Red Sea International Airport is operated by daa International, which has supported Red Sea Global with design validation and commissioning of RSI since 2020. With the arrival of RSI’s first commercial flight, daa International’s operational responsibility commences.
On the same day as it welcomed its first flight, RSG also revealed the new brand for RSI. Visitors can expect to see the brand expressed across multiple touchpoints, from the airport terminal and staff uniforms to the electric mobility vehicles that will transport passengers from air to land side.
The brand icon is a representation of the Red Sea International Airport’s unique architecture. The iconic shape is inspired by the bird’s eye view of the airport’s exterior. It has been created to express the creativity, novelty and sophistication of the brand in a way that is contemporary and distinct, RSG noted.
As well as its airport, Red Sea Global has made great progress across other infrastructure works to ensure The Red Sea is ready to welcome visitors and meet its promises for responsible development and regenerative tourism. It has constructed the five solar farms needed to enable the first phase of The Red Sea to be off grid and powered solely by sunlight, with more than 760,000 solar panels installed.
