Virgin Atlantic, owned by Richard Branson, is set to expand its services into Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, as part of its strategy to tap into the growing tourism industry between the UK and the Gulf region. Starting from March 30, 2025, the airline will launch its first daily passenger flight from London Heathrow to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic growth strategy.
The new service will depart from London at 2:45 pm, arriving in Riyadh at 11:35 pm. The return flight from Riyadh will take off at 1:25 am, landing back in London at 7:00 am.
The trade volume between the UK and Saudi Arabia reached $33.5 billion last year, with expectations to rise to $59 billion by 2030. Travel between the two nations is projected to grow by 24% between 2019 and 2035, reflecting the increased demand for tourism and business travel.
Virgin Atlantic’s new route will operate on an A330neo aircraft, providing 30 tonnes of cargo space per flight to support the needs of businesses engaged in export and import activities. Along with this new Riyadh service, the airline is also resuming its London-Accra route, which had been suspended since 2013.
Saudi Arabia saw 165,000 visitors from the UK between January and March this year, according to Ahmed Al-Khateeb, the country’s Minister of Tourism. Meanwhile, VisitBritain anticipates that 240,000 travelers from Saudi Arabia will visit the UK by the end of 2024, representing a 9% increase from 2019, with their spending expected to reach $988 million.
