Qatar Airways Launches Flights To Red Sea, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea is quickly gaining momentum as one of the next sought-after luxury vacation destinations targeted towards affluent travelers.
In a previous post, I talked about Marriott being the first brand to open a hotel on Shura Island. The island, which is part of the bigger Red Sea Global project, is part of a regenerative development being funded by the Saudi Arabian government to turn literal sand and water into a region when travelers can seek to escape from regular day-to-day monotony.
A few major brands are expected to open later this year, with more coming in 2026. The Rea Sea International Airport (RSI) was built as part of the project to help make access to the Red Sea easier. So far, both FlyDubai and Saudia have been servicing the airport from Dubai (DXB), Jeddah (JED) and Riyadh (RUH).
Qatar Airways is now the third airline to begin service to RSI, operating three weekly non-stop flights from Doha (DOH) using Airbus A320s. This additional also make it Qatar Airways’ 12th destination within Saudi Arabia.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, said: “We at Qatar Airways are proud to expand our global network of more than 170 destinations with the inauguration of service to The Red Sea. The importance of the Saudi market, and our commitment to it, is proven by the growing reach of our services in the Kingdom. This new route – a testament to the close ties between the two countries – offers travellers seamless, world class access to one of the Middle East’s emerging destinations onboard the World’s Best Airline.”
The schedule is as follows:
| Flight Number | Origin | Departure Time | Destination | Arrival Time | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QR1226 | Doha (DOH) | 7:45 a.m. | The Red Sea (RSI) | 10:45 a.m. | Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays |
| QR1227 | The Red Sea (RSI) | 11:45 a.m. | Doha (DOH) | 2:15 p.m. | Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays |
First announced in 2017, Saudi Arabia invested about $3.7 billion dollars into development of the Red Sea, as part of a regenerative mega tourism project. The Rea Sea project consists of development of four larger island masses, as well as island areas along, you guessed it, the Red Sea.
The four islands include Shura Island, the Ummahat Islands, Sheybarah Island and Laheq Island. Inland, they are also working on development of the Southern Dunes, Turtle Bay Village, Desert Rock and Botanica (a botanical nursery).
Shura Island will see the bulk of tourist activity with the development of 11 hotel projects along with 305 residences, and an 18-hole golf course.
Besides the above-mentioned carriers, Riyadh Air has also expressed interest in flying to the Red Sea. Beyond these four, no other airlines have announced flights to the new destination yet, but I suspect once more hotels are completed and opened, we’ll see more international carriers joining in.
Just for comparison, the Maldives which has a very established line up of resorts across its island chain, sees flights from many parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Being much closer to Europe, I suspect the Red Sea will see quite a bit of favouritism from European travelers.
