ITA Airways will resume its direct flights between Rome Fiumicino and Riyadh from September 15, 2026. The airline plans five weekly frequencies operated with 165-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft, with possible connections via its Italian hub.
The information was published on July 20, 2026 by TTR Weekly. The connection will once again allow non-stop travel between the Italian capital and Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
According to the specialized press, ITA Airways presents this resumption of service as a way to develop traffic between Italy and Saudi Arabia. This justification is part of the company's public relations. The verifiable details mainly concern the resumption date, the frequency, the announced schedules, and the type of aircraft.
Summary
ITA Airways plans five flights per week to Riyadh
Starting September 15, 2026, flight AZ838 is scheduled to connect Rome Fiumicino to Riyadh five times a week. According to the announcement published by TTR Weekly, it will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
The departure from Rome is scheduled for 3:05 PM, with an arrival in Riyadh at 9:20 PM local time.
On the return journey, flight AZ839 is scheduled to depart from Riyadh at 1:45 am and land at Rome Fiumicino at 6:15 am. It will be offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
These schedules create a discrepancy between the operating days of outbound and return flights, due to the nighttime departure from Riyadh.
A schedule difference appears on the ITA Airways website
ITA Airways' booking engine currently confirms the existence of a direct flight AZ839 between Riyadh and Rome, departing at 1:45 am and arriving at 6:15 am.
However, for flight AZ838, the company's website shows a departure from Rome at 3:10 p.m. and an arrival in Riyadh at 9:25 p.m., five minutes later than the schedule provided by TTR Weekly.
This difference may result from a schedule update or a timetable that is still subject to adjustment before operations begin. Professionals should therefore verify the flight details in the booking system at the time of issuance.
A 165-seat Airbus A321neo on the Rome-Riyadh route
ITA Airways plans to operate the route with an Airbus A321neo configured for 165 passengers.
The technical specifications published by the company confirm this capacity. The aircraft has three distinct cabins: Business, Premium Economy, and Economy.
ITA Airways also indicates a maximum range of 7,400 kilometers at full load for this aircraft. This characteristic allows it to be used on medium-haul routes to the Middle East.
The TTR Weekly article mentions a flight time of 5 hours 15 minutes. The ITA Airways website currently shows 5 hours 15 minutes for the Rome-Riyadh route and approximately 5 hours 30 minutes for the Riyadh-Rome route.
What the resumption of ITA Airways flights to Riyadh actually changes
The main change is the return of a non-stop service between Rome and Riyadh under the ITA Airways code. Passengers will therefore not need to make a connection to reach the two capitals on the days this service is offered.
From Riyadh, ITA Airways indicates that passengers will be able to access connections to its Italian domestic, European and intercontinental network via Rome Fiumicino.
The availability and quality of these connections will depend, however, on the days of operation, transit times, and final timetables. Therefore, it is not possible to guarantee that all destinations on the network will have a suitable connection.
For French professionals, the route does not create a direct service from France. However, it adds the possibility of travel with a connection in Rome, subject to the availability of connecting flights.
ITA Airways presents Riyadh as a strategic market
In information reported by TTR Weekly, ITA Airways describes Saudi Arabia as a strategic and growing market, particularly for business travel.
This assessment comes from the company and is not accompanied, in the source article, by any statistics on bookings, expected traffic, occupancy rates or the proportion of business trips.
It should therefore be presented as the reason put forward by ITA Airways to explain the resumption, and not as an independent conclusion on the future performance of the route.
The announcement also does not provide passenger targets, revenue forecasts, or a minimum operating period.
A line repetition, not necessarily a creation
ITA Airways is referring to a resumption of service to Riyadh. This does not mean the creation of an entirely new destination within its network.
The term is important for distributors because it indicates that the company previously operated this route before the interruption preceding the announced return in September 2026.
The source article does not specify the date of the last flight before this interruption, the exact reasons for the suspension, or the period during which the route remained inactive.
In the absence of further confirmation, it would be risky to attribute this interruption to demand, regional context, or a specific business decision.
Points to check before booking
Agencies will need to verify the final schedules, operating days, connection times and fare conditions at the time of sale.
The five-minute difference between the TTR Weekly article and the ITA Airways booking page shows that the schedule may still change before September 15, 2026.
The five weekly frequencies are consistent with the days provided. However, some automated commercial pages on the ITA Airways website may display general information or frequencies that do not exactly match a given schedule.
The data in the booking file and in the system used to issue the ticket must therefore remain the operational reference.
ITA Airways-Riyadh: a specific announcement, but still subject to change
At this stage, four elements are confirmed: the resumption is planned for September 15, 2026, the link is to be operated five times a week, the flights will bear the numbers AZ838 and AZ839 and the aircraft announced is an Airbus A321neo with 165 seats.
The published schedules are close to those on the ITA Airways website, with a five-minute difference for the Rome-Riyadh route. Details should be verified before departure, as with any flight schedule published several weeks in advance.
For travel professionals, the tangible benefit lies in the addition of a non-stop option between Rome and Riyadh and the connecting flight possibilities via Fiumicino. The route's commercial performance can only be assessed after it resumes service.
Article published on July 22, 2026 based on information available at that date.
Sources
- https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2026/07/ita-airways-returns-to-riyadh/
- https://www.ita-airways.com/lhg/sa/en/od/cy-cy/riyadh-rome
- https://www.ita-airways.com/ch/en/world-of-ita-airways/discover-ita-airways/fleet/short-haul
- https://www.ita-airways.com/eg/en/world-of-ita-airways/discover-ita-airways/network
👉 Access all our tourism reports, statistics and analyses on Tourisme Stats.
➡️ Check out our full report on B2B Tourism to discover the key trends, figures and strategies for 2026.
👉 Stay informed about business tourism trends: subscribe to InfosTourisme Inside .
📘 Also check out our practical pages for tourism professionals .
📩 Send your press releases .
