With Riyadh Season less than a month away, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudia, is transporting three Boeing 777 fuselages from its fleet of retired aircraft. First announced by the Saudi Arabian adviser at the Royal Court, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, during last year’s Riyadh Season, Boulevard Runway is expected to be the star attraction at this year’s event.
Instead of sending them to the scrapyard, Saudi Arabia removed the aircraft’s wings and any other valuable parts so that they could be featured in this year’s Riyadh Season. Once the workhorses of the Saudia Airlines long-haul fleet are completed, the three Boeing 777-200ERs will be given a new life as tourist attractions in the Boulevard Runway Zone, an innovative collaboration between Saudia and Riyadh Season.
The three retired Saudia Boeing 777-200ERs
According to the aviation data and statistics website ch-aviation, the three retired Boeing 777-200ERs were over 25 years old:
- The 26.6-year-old Boeing 777-200ER, registered HZ-AKG, was delivered new to Saudi Arabia on March 19, 1998, and retired on September 7, 2016. When it was retired, the aircraft had accumulated 50,127,00 flight hours and 17,995 flight cycles.
- The 26.1-year-old Boeing 777-200ER registered HZ-AKK was delivered new to Saudia on September 17, 1998, and retired on September 26, 2016. When it was retired, the aircraft had 49,945,00 flight hours and 20,309 flight cycles.
- The 25.6-year-old Boeing 777-200ER, registered as HZ-AKP, was delivered to Saudi Arabia on March 25, 1999,, and retired on June 10, 2017. When the aircraft was taken out of service, the aircraft had 52,103,00 flight hours and 21,300 flight cycles.
When the aircraft was in service with Saudia, it had 341 seats in a three-cabin configuration. Saudia replaced the three aircraft with new Boeing 777-300ERs and currently has 37 of them in its fleet.
Transporting the planes by road required extensive planning
The decision to transport the planes by road rather than by air was strategic, as it met the unique requirements of the Boulevard Runway project. Getting the aircraft from King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) to Riyadh was an intricate 530-mile (850km) road journey that involved extensive planning and the cooperation of local authorities and traffic management agencies.
Given the aircraft’s immense size and weight, multiple large cranes were used to load them aboard flatbed trailers for the trip to Riyadh. The decision to transform these old aircraft into a stunning attraction for the Boulevard Runway project highlights Saudia’s commitment to sustainability.
About the Boulevard Runway Zone
Situated across from Boulevard City, the Boulevard Runway Zone occupies 140,000 square meters and is filled with family-friendly interactive games and aircraft-themed activities. A part of the plan is to turn the Saudia Boeing 777s into spaces that will offer the airline experience without all the security checks and the need to show up at the airport hours before your flight.
About the Riyadh Season
Riyadh Season is advertised as the world’s largest winter event, capturing the spirit of Saudi Arabia from its upland Najdi heritage to the country’s present-day dynamic future-looking optimism. The Boulevard Runway zone is just one of the many zones that will showcase concerts, theatrical productions, and sporting events.
Besides Boulevard Runway, the Riyadh Season zones include:
- BLVD Business Park
- Boulevard City
- Boulevard World
- Christian Dior Designer of Dreams
- Dunes of Arabia
- Kingdom Arena
- Riyadh Zoo
- Souq Al Awaleen
- Suwaidi Park
- Studio Tour
- The Groves
- Via Riyadh
- Wonder Garden
Highlights of Riyadh Season 2024 are:
- The undisputed light heavyweight showdown between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol at the Kindom Arena in Riyadh on October 12, 2024.
- The PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants a mixed martial arts event headlined by Francis Ngannou vs Renan Ferreira at the state-of-the-art Mayadeen in Riyadh on October 19, 2024.
- The 6 King’s Slam is a tennis tournament featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, and Holger Rune to take place throughout October 2024.
- The WWE Crown Jewel wrestling event will be held at the Kingdom Arena on November 2, 2024.
- The Ring of Fire is a heavyweight professional boxing match between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury at the Kingdom Arena on December 21, 2024.
- The Supercoppa Italiana, featuring Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, and Atalanta, will be held in Riyadh from January 2 to 6, 2025.
- The 2025 Supercopa de España, featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, and Mallorca, will be held in Riyadh from January 8 to 12, 2025.
The History of the Riyadh Season
First introduced as an initiative in 2019 by the General Entertainment Authority, the Riyadh Season was a portfolio of 11 regional cultural festivals that aimed to promote tourism in Saudi Arabia in support of Saudi Vision 2030. The inaugural event resulted in a massive increase in tourism, with the General Entertainment Authority taking in six billion riyals in revenue from 11 million visitors. During the 66-day event, the city of Riyadh saw a 240% increase in hotel bookings.
Because of the COVID-19 global panic, the Riyadh Season was canceled for the winter of 2020-2021 but returned again in 2021-2022 with a performance by American rap singer Pitbull in front of 750,000 people in the boulevard district. Since then, the event has grown year-on-year, with this year’s Riyadh Season expecting a record number of visitors.