Delta Delays Riyadh to March 2027; SkyWest Wins Bradford–Dulles Contract

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Delta’s long-awaited Atlanta–Riyadh launch is off the October schedule: after missile strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the weekend, the carrier has pushed the debut to March 2027. Closer to home, SkyWest has won a four-year federal Essential Air Service contract to link Bradford, Pennsylvania, with Washington Dulles from February, replacing Southern Airways Express. Overseas, Ryanair put a batch of summer 2027 routes on sale, Air Arabia adds a second Amman airport, Jeju Air links Busan with Manila, IndiGo grows Udaipur, and Saudia pencils in an A321XLR run to Mauritius.

New Routes

SkyWest Airlines — Bradford, PA (BFD) → Washington Dulles (IAD)

• Starts: February 1, 2027
• Frequency: 12 weekly round trips
• Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ200 (50 seats)

The U.S. DOT awarded SkyWest a four-year Essential Air Service contract running through January 31, 2031. Per Aviation Week, the annual subsidy climbs from $5.85 million in year one to $6.39 million in year four. SkyWest takes over from Southern Airways Express (see below).

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Air Arabia — Sharjah (SHJ) → Amman Civil/Marka (ADJ)

• Starts: November 15, 2026
• Frequency: 4 times weekly
• Aircraft: Mix of Airbus A320, A320neo and A321neo

This becomes Air Arabia’s second Amman gateway from Sharjah, alongside its existing flights to Queen Alia International. AeroRoutes lists G9169 departing Sharjah at 08:00 and G9170 returning from Amman at 11:20.

Jeju Air — Busan (PUS) → Manila (MNL)

• Starts: December 17, 2026
• Frequency: 5 times weekly
• Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

A late-evening departure from Busan (7C2613, 21:30) arrives in Manila just after midnight; the return (7C2614) leaves Manila at 01:45.

IndiGo — Noida International (DXN) → Udaipur (UDR)

• Starts: October 25, 2026
• Frequency: Daily
• Aircraft: TBA

IndiGo — Navi Mumbai International (NMI) → Udaipur (UDR)

• Starts: November 15, 2026
• Frequency: Daily
• Aircraft: TBA

With these two additions, IndiGo’s Udaipur network reaches seven destinations.

Saudia — Jeddah (JED) → Mauritius (MRU)

• Starts: July 2, 2027 (tentative)
• Frequency: 3 times weekly
• Aircraft: Airbus A321XLR

This is a preliminary filing for the northern summer 2027 season; AeroRoutes notes the flight was previously listed for June 15, 2026 and warns that further changes are possible.

Ryanair — 18 summer 2027 routes now on sale

Ryanair says 29 new summer 2027 routes are on sale, with more to come; Aviation Week named the 18 below. Start dates, frequencies and aircraft have not been published for any of them, so each is TBA. Aviation Week’s wording on the Alicante flights (“Alicante-Naples and Tangier”) is ambiguous; we read it as two routes from Alicante.

• Birmingham (BHX) → Wroclaw (WRO)
• Bournemouth (BOH) → Porto (OPO)
• East Midlands (EMA) → Gdansk (GDN)
• Exeter (EXT) → Porto (OPO)
• Newcastle (NCL) → Reus (REU)
• Newcastle (NCL) → Rhodes (RHO)
• Norwich (NWI) → Malaga (AGP)
• Leeds Bradford (LBA) → Bari (BRI)
• Leeds Bradford (LBA) → Budapest (BUD)
• Leeds Bradford (LBA) → Corfu (CFU)
• Leeds Bradford (LBA) → Tirana (TIA)
• Alicante (ALC) → Naples (NAP)
• Alicante (ALC) → Tangier (TNG)
• Athens (ATH) → Turin (TRN)
• Dubrovnik (DBV) → Warsaw Modlin (WMI)
• Krakow (KRK) → Tangier (TNG)
• Palermo (PMO) → Marrakech (RAK)
• Tangier (TNG) → Turin (TRN)

New Routes at a Glance

Routes Being Discontinued

Delta Air Lines — Atlanta (ATL) → Riyadh (RUH): launch postponed

• Effective: The planned October 23, 2026 launch is cancelled; service is now set to begin in March 2027 (exact date TBA)
• Frequency (as planned): Daily at first, then 3 times weekly after October 30
• Aircraft: TBA

Delta made the call after the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis escalated, including a weekend strike on King Khalid International Airport that Airline Geeks reports killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300. Delta said safety and security “always come first.”

Southern Airways Express — Bradford, PA (BFD) → Pittsburgh (PIT) and Washington Dulles (IAD)

• Last day: January 31, 2027, or earlier if SkyWest begins its replacement service first

Southern’s Essential Air Service role at Bradford ends when SkyWest’s new contract takes over. Note that the replacement covers Dulles only; no Bradford–Pittsburgh replacement was reported.

Discontinued Routes at a Glance

Sources

• Aviation Week — Routes & Networks Latest: Rolling Daily Updates (W/C Oct. 12, 2026)
• Airline Geeks — Delta Pushes Back Saudi Arabia Flights to March 2027
• AeroRoutes — Air Arabia Adds Sharjah – Amman City From Nov 2026
• AeroRoutes — Jeju Air Adds Busan – Manila From Dec 2026
• AeroRoutes — Saudia Tentatively Files A321XLR Mauritius Service in 2H27