Saudi Arabia's startup carrier Riyadh Air is restarting flights — but not from Riyadh. After attacks on King Khalid International Airport (RUH) forced its closure, the airline will temporarily operate out of Al Qassim Airport (ELQ), roughly 400 kilometres northwest of the capital, from 25 October 2026.

The context here is grim. Riyadh's main airport was struck repeatedly, leaving at least 15 people dead and more than 300 injured. A Saudia Airbus A320 was destroyed and several other aircraft damaged, including reportedly one of Riyadh Air's brand-new Dreamliners. The airport was shut entirely for a stretch and has since only handled cargo on a permission-only basis — regular passenger flights remain grounded.

Rather than keep sitting on the tarmac, Riyadh Air is decamping to Al Qassim and relaunching with a short but meaningful route list: Cairo, Dhaka, Islamabad, Jeddah, Lahore and London Heathrow. That last one matters, since Heathrow is the airline's flagship long-haul link and a symbol of its global ambitions.

The awkward part is getting there. Passengers still start their trip in Riyadh, checking in at the InterContinental Hotel Durrat Al Riyadh, then boarding a complimentary coach to Al Qassim. The check-in window at the hotel runs from 15 minutes to two hours before the bus leaves, the drive takes about 4.5 hours, and the coach is timed to arrive just 30 minutes before baggage closes for the flight. So a London trip from Riyadh effectively begins with the better part of a working day spent on a motorway before you've even cleared security.

It's a clunky fix, but arguably the only one available. With Riyadh's runways effectively off-limits to passenger traffic, the choice was between not flying at all and flying from somewhere else. It's worth noting the commentator behind the source points out that Al Qassim isn't obviously immune from being targeted itself — the recent attacks have simply been concentrated on the capital.

For travellers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: if you're booked on Riyadh Air in the near term, build in a very long pre-flight buffer, confirm the hotel check-in arrangement before you set out, and treat the coach as part of your journey time rather than an airport transfer. Anyone with flexible dates may prefer to wait until operations return to Riyadh proper, since the airline's relaunch is explicitly framed as temporary. There's also a broader point for anyone planning trips to Saudi Arabia right now — check the operational status of your departure airport, because schedules can shift quickly.

Riyadh Air has had brutal timing overall, launching into a market just as its home hub became a target. For now, the new carrier's answer is a hotel lobby, a long coach ride and a flight from a city most of its passengers never planned to visit.