No First Class, No Champagne? Inside Riyadh Air’s New 787 Cabin

• Ahead of its official launch, currently scheduled for Q4 of this year, Riyadh Air has offered a glimpse of its highly anticipated 787 interior cabin.
• While the upstart carrier’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners won’t feature a first class, they will feature four “Business Elite” suites, as well as a premium economy better than “anybody’s business class.”
• Riyadh Air is expected to generate approximately US$20 billion for Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP growth (in addition to creating over 200,000 jobs).

“No expense spared” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re dealing with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Particularly for an undertaking as significant as the Kingdom’s second flag carrier.

Now, a little under a year after making headlines with its fashion collection uniforms – designed by ASHI Studio and unveiled at Paris’ Haute Couture Week – and the promise of private business class suites in lieu of a first class product, we’ve finally received a glimpse of the cabin interiors. In all its purple-toned and “Mocha Gold” accented glory.

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The front row of Riyadh Air’s 787 features four Business Elite suites that include a sliding privacy door; lie-flat seats measuring six feet six inches by 22.5 inches wide; as well as a 4K OLED monitor measuring 32 inches (the largest of any business class). Two USB-C, a single USB-A, and power outlets are also provided.

The bespoke Safran Unity seats in business class also leverage the French manufacturer’s partnership with audio company Devialet, integrating the Euphony smart speaker system into headrests, meaning passengers will not need headphones for in-flight entertainment.

And at the centre, privacy dividers can be removed to create a double bed. For couples or a couple of very close bros.

The much-hyped premium economy seats – claimed by CEO Tony Douglas as “better than just about anybody’s business class” – are arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, with a seat pitch of 38 inches and a width of 19.2 inches. As you can imagine, no lie-flats or privacy screens, but there is a calf rest, along with four USB-C charging ports and a noticeably smaller 15.6-inch 4K TV.

“It’s a step up to ‘business minus’ as opposed to ‘economy plus.’”

These premium economy seats make use of the very same Recaro PL3530 model as key future rival Emirates, “elevated through design.”

One question, however, remains: can passengers expect any form of first class to eventually be introduced as the next step up beyond Riyad Air’s premium economy, regular business class, and beefed-up Business Elite suites?

While Douglas has famously been ideologically against the notion, labelling the concept an “egotistical charitable act” and “not commercially sustainable” at the 2023 Skift Global Forum East, the former Etihad Airways exec seems to have changed his tune. Especially considering the impending delivery of either the Airbus A350-1000 or Boeing 777X.

“As you can probably imagine, we’ve thought long and hard about first class,” Douglas told Executive Traveller.

“We’re running a campaign at the moment [for] the selection of an extra-wide body aircraft to be the third member of our fleet. And we will almost certainly put a game-changing first class product into it.”

Then there’s the matter of alcohol. Given Saudi Arabia’s strict ban on booze, and Douglas’ assertion that Riyadh Air will therefore work within the current legislation, it’s highly likely that passengers will be riding dry. No compromises, indeed…

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As previously reported, Riyadh Air plans to operate both domestic and international flights to over 100 different destinations – including Australia and New Zealand, once there is sufficient aircraft and passenger “flow” – in cooperation with Star Alliance members Singapore Airlines, Air China, Turkish Airlines, and EgyptAir.

“In the early stage of building our network, we’re more likely to put on a ‘thick route’ into Singapore, giving people a wonderful guest experience on Riyadh Air… and the final leg [to Australia or New Zealand] on an equally incredible product and experience with Singapore Airlines,” said Tony Douglas.

Keep an eye out for Riyadh Air, operating from a central hub at King Khalid International Airport, later this year – and check out the unveiling of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s interior cabin design via the video above.