2 weeks Ago By Tom Boon
Riyadh Air has today revealed the cabins for its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Speaking to Simple Flying, the airline's CEO, Tony Douglas , remarked that the product will be "a new standard of luxury" when it launches later this year. The Boeing 787 will have three different cabins, with the business class cabin having a mini-premium business section.
Launched in 2023, Riyadh Air has a mandate to become a flag carrier for Saudi Arabia. This is no small undertaking, especially when you want to stand out in the way Riyadh Air does. The Saudi startup has really started from the ground up, and has spent the past two years "teasing and revealing" what to expect.
Major announcements still to come include the airline's route network, inaugural flights, and the soft product. Business Class Will Feature 1-2-1 Safran Unity Seats At the pointy end of the Boeing 787, Riyadh Air has planned a 28-seat business class cabin featuring Safran Unity seats. These have each been given extensive Riyadh Air branding, including mocha-gold veins and a "canopy twist" design running through all of the cabins.
Douglas took pleasure in pointing out that these seats have the tables seen in the first class product on Singapore Airlines, which he describes as "the best in the world" . The business suites stand out because of the many small details. They will be equipped with 22-inch 4K OLED Panasonic Astrova screens.
Riyadh Air has worked with Euphony to place directional speakers in the business class headrests, allowing passengers to enjoy their own content without the pressure of wearing headphones for the entirety of a long-haul flight. Speaking to this, Douglas told Simple Flying, "[Euphony] is directional hi-fi built into the headrest. It's super high quality audio and the genius of this is when I'm sat next to you.
I can't hear what you're listening to and you can't hear what I'm listening to...
You can enjoy your content streamed directly to that big screen using that incredible sound system in an environment that we think back through the art of design is just taking it to the next level." Music without headphones, origami doors, and creative seating solutions may soon appear on an aircraft near you! An Exclusive Front Row Will Come With Different Service Standards The real magic takes place in the first row of the business class cabin, something which Douglas describes as "probably better than a number of other [airlines' first class]" . The front row, known as Business Elite, consists of four seats with markedly more space than the remaining seats.
This is becoming a common phenomenon at the front of business cabins as space is created from a lack of a seat in front. Unlike most of the middle seats, the front row seats can be converted into a double bed with the divider going all the way down. They will also have 32-inch 4K OLED screens, which Douglas describes as "the biggest screens that have been put on a business class product.
" While Douglas remained fairly tight-lipped on what the airline's soft product will entail (this will come as a separate reveal), he did let slip to Simple Flying that the business elite soft product would be different from the standard business class product. Understandably, this product will attract a higher price, though what this is is yet to be revealed. Douglas remarked "There will be a premium [price], but we're not at the ready-to-sell point yet where we'll announce the pricing differential.
For the avoidance of doubt, I would describe it as follows: It will not be priced anywhere close to anybody else's first [class]. But, it will probably be better than a number of other people's first [class]." Premium Economy Has RECARO's PL3530 In A 2-3-2 Configuration When it comes to premium economy products, Riyadh Air will be using the RECARO PL3530 seat.
You may know this seat as the premium economy seat found onboard Emirates' aircraft. Riyadh Air has customised the seats extensively, from the privacy wings by the headrest to the premium-feel cocktail tray between seats. The premium economy cabin will have 39 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration.
These will have a width of 19.2 inches and a pitch of 38 inches, compared to 19.5" and 40" on the Emirates A350, according to aeroLOPA .
Moving further back down the cabin, the IFE screen size decreases, with the premium economy seats boasting a 15.6-inch 4K OLED screen. On this cabin Douglas remarked, "Is it the same seat that's in Emirates? Yes, it's the same seat.
Does the Emirates one look like that? Certainly not with that detail...
For many, we'd like to think they'll walk in there and say 'This must be the business class cabin'...
And that's how we try to differentiate." It’s the perfect middle ground. 223 RECARO R3 Seats In 3-3-3 Make Up The Economy Cabin Finally, we reach the economy cabin, which is described by Douglas as "the most important cabin" .
Unlike some airlines, which have a large mismatch between cabins to differentiate them, Riyadh Air has gone for a different approach. Here you can see the same colors and stitching on the economy class seats as those in Business Elite. Riyadh Air has stuck with RECARO for its economy class seating, opting for the company's R3 product in a 3-3-3 configuration.
These will have 31 inches of pitch with a 13.4-inch Panasonic Astrova 4K OLED screen . This seat will also be found on the airline's Airbus A321neos and A321LRs when they come into service.
Again, the airline wants the cabin to feel more exclusive than it is. "We've taken the Recaro R3 product, which we think is the most comfortable seat out there. But again, through material choice and detail, we try to elevate it where most people we'd like to think will come into this cabin and think it's the premium economy cabin.
" 290 Seats Will Be Found On The Boeing 787 There will be 290 seats spread across the three (and-a-half) cabins on the Boeing 787. Riyadh Air has tried to make the aircraft homogeneous. Douglas called out some other airlines as making "the cabin at the back look cheap" and "disconnected from the premium cabin at the front" .
This is something that Riyadh Air has placed a huge focus on avoiding. Specification: Economy Premium Economy Business Business Elite Seats 223 39 24 4 Seat Model RECARO R3 RECARO PL3530 Safran Unity Safran Unity Elite Configuration 3-3-3 2-3-2 1-2-1 1-2-1 Width 17.2" 19.
2" 22.5" 22.5" Pitch 31" 38" 45" 45" Bed Length N/A N/A 78" 78" IFE Monitor 13.
4" 4K OLED 15.6" 4K OLED 22" 4K OLED 32" 4K OLED Charging 2x USB-C 4x USB-C AC Power, 1x USB-A, 2x USB-C Privacy N/A N/A 52" Walls 52" Walls You may notice that no first class is present on the Boeing 787, but as Douglas used to say in his previous role with Eithad, "never say never". Riyadh Air is currently in the process of tendering for an extra-widebody aircraft such as the Airbus A350 or Boeing 777X.
Douglas revealed that this aircraft will have a separate first class cabin when it does eventually come into service. The airline is also due to take delivery of Airbus A321neos and Airbus A321LRs. The economy class in these aircraft will also feature the RECARO R3, meaning that economy passengers will get a standard offering across all aircraft.
Douglas wasn't ready to reveal the A320neo family's business class cabin, but did reveal the following: "We're already out there making it clear we will have two LOPAs on the A321. One will be for the shorter sector range, which will have reclined business seat. We'll also be taking probably around half the fleet as LRs, the long range derivative.
On that, it will be a full lie flat seat.".
