The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has granted Riyadh Air an Air Operators Certificate (AOC), authorising the Saudi Arabian start-up to commence commercial operations.
This AOC issuance confirms Riyadh Air’s full compliance with Saudi Arabia's aviation regulations, international standards, and flight safety requirements under the Chicago Convention on international civil aviation.
This confirmation builds on comments made in February by the company's CEO Tony Douglas, who said in an interview with Al Arabiya News, during the FII PRIORITY Miami 2025 Summit, that the airline had already received its AOC.
"Obtaining the AOC is an important milestone in the company's journey. It is the result of the efforts of many employees at Riyadh Air,” commented Tony Douglas, Riyadh Air CEO. “We can proudly say that Riyadh Air is now an airline with an operational license to transport our traveling guests, and we are ready to begin operations later in 2025."
Riyadh Air said in January that it had pushed back its launch date from mid-2025 to the third quarter of the year. The delay comes as a result of delays to 787-9 deliveries.
“Major parts of the first aircraft are already prepared for final assembly and given well-known global supply chain challenges, we expect delivery to start in third quarter, facilitating the start of operations soon after,” a spokesperson for the airline told Airline Economics.
The spokesperson said the airline “remains on track for launch 2025 despite industry challenges”.
Riyadh Air currently has 39 787s on order with options for 33 more.
The airline is projected to fly to more than 100 destinations by 2030. The airline is also projected to create more than 200 thousand direct and indirect jobs, contributing approximately $19.9bn to the country’s non-oil GDP.
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