Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air is adding the Philippines to its fast-growing route map, with the carrier scheduling the launch of daily flights between its Riyadh hub and Manila from September 2026, according to schedule data reported by AeroRoutes.
The first Riyadh-Manila service is set for September 9, 2026, and the route will be operated daily using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Based on the filed timetable, flight RX873 departs Riyadh at 01:05 and arrives in Manila at 15:55, while the return flight RX874 leaves Manila at 17:25 and lands back in Riyadh at 22:15. Reservations for the new service are already open on the airline's website.
Manila is a natural target for a Gulf carrier building an international network from scratch. The Philippines is one of the largest sources of overseas workers in Saudi Arabia, and demand between the two countries has traditionally supported strong point-to-point traffic as well as onward connections. For Riyadh Air, a daily Dreamliner link plugs Manila into a growing web of destinations funnelling through the Saudi capital.
Riyadh Air, backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, is central to the kingdom's ambition to turn Riyadh into a global aviation hub and to carry tens of millions of passengers through the capital by the end of the decade. Since entering service, the airline has been rolling out new routes at a rapid pace, adding points across Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia, including a recently launched service to Mumbai and regulatory approvals for the Chinese market.
The Manila announcement fits that expansion pattern, extending the carrier's reach further into Southeast Asia. The 787-9 is the backbone of Riyadh Air's long-haul fleet plans; the airline has firmed up a substantial Dreamliner order alongside a commitment for Airbus A350s, giving it the widebody capacity it needs to sustain a rapidly widening route network.
For travellers, the addition means a new nonstop option between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia on a modern widebody, with same-aircraft connectivity onward from Riyadh. For the wider market, it is another data point in how aggressively the Gulf's newest full-service carrier is scaling up as it races to establish itself alongside the region's established mega-hubs.
With bookings already live and the inaugural flight just weeks away, Manila becomes one more piece in Riyadh Air's methodical build-out of a network designed to make the Saudi capital a serious competitor for long-haul connecting traffic.
Sources: AeroRoutes. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Marco Bianchi.
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