Saudi Arabia's brand-new carrier Riyadh Air has quietly changed how it gets people into the capital: planes now land at Al Qassim airport, roughly 434km (270 miles) from Riyadh, with passengers completing the trip by coach. The reason is safety. Yemen's Iran-linked Houthis have kept up attacks on Riyadh, and the airline has shifted operations away from its home hub, King Khalid International, while the risk persists.
According to the airline's website, routes between Riyadh and Cairo, Jeddah, Dhaka, London, Lahore and Islamabad are currently running through Al Qassim instead. That's a mixed bag of key business, religious and long-haul routes — including the London service, meaning UK travellers can find themselves landing in central Saudi Arabia rather than the capital they booked.
The workaround comes with a surprisingly upscale finish. From Al Qassim, a free coach ferries passengers on the roughly 4.5-hour drive to and from the InterContinental Durrat Al Riyadh hotel, which is serving as the city-side transfer point. So the journey works, but it is nothing like the quick airport-to-city hop flyers expected when they booked. Anyone connecting onwards from Riyadh should factor the added half-day into plans, especially for tight onward flights or hotel check-ins.
The setup stays in place, the airline says, until Riyadh Air can resume flying out of King Khalid International. There's no clear timeline, so travellers booked on the affected routes in the coming months should check their itinerary details before departure and keep an eye on airline updates.
Why it matters: this is a rare example of an airline literally busing passengers between cities to keep a network running. If you hold a Riyadh Air ticket to the capital, your arrival airport and transfer logistics may look nothing like your booking confirmation — and the free coach, while convenient, adds significant travel time. Build slack into any onward connections, confirm where your flight actually lands, and note that the coach drops at a specific hotel rather than the airport.
The story was first reported by Skift.
