Riyadh Air is running a genuinely global casting call, with Assessment Days being held across Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. For candidates, Riyadh Air’s combination of scale and newness makes this one of the most interesting Gulf carrier opportunities available at present, but one of the most challenging to research thoroughly.
This guide brings together everything we know about the Riyadh Air cabin crew recruitment process, from the online application and online assessments to the Assessment Day and Final Interview, along with Top Tips, background information, and practice materials.
What It Means to Be Riyadh Air Cabin Crew
Joining a well-funded new airline at the very start of its story is an incredibly appealing prospect. Riyadh Air has the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, an order book of over 150 aircraft, and an ambition to become a major global carrier within a decade.
Being part of something this size from the beginning brings opportunities that simply don’t exist at an airline that has already been operating for decades. Think faster progression, the chance to shape how things are done, and a genuine sense of building something rather than joining something already built.
But there are a lot of unknowns. Riyadh Air’s growth plans are extensively publicised, but a fleet order and a five-year strategy are not the same thing as a proven, functioning airline. How the network actually expands, how quickly new routes come online, and how the day-to-day working experience compares to the ambition in the press releases has yet to be established.
If you are comparing Riyadh Air to Emirates, Etihad, or Qatar Airways, then it’s worth mentioning that Saudi Arabia still feels like a very different country from the UAE or even Qatar. The Gulf carriers are often discussed as a single category, but the lived experience of being based in Riyadh will not be the same as being based in Dubai or Doha.
Riyadh Air’s employer branding leans heavily on a concept called Hafawa, a Saudi expression of warmth, generosity, and genuine hospitality. According to the airline’s own careers material, cabin crew are expected to bring “kindness, connection, and Saudi warmth to life in every cabin,” with every flight framed as an opportunity to represent Saudi Arabia to the world. The advertised package includes a guaranteed 75 flight hours per month until the end of 2026, and full salary payment throughout the entire training period.
Where Things Stand: Riyadh Air’s Launch Timeline
Riyadh Air was created in 2023 as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plan, with an initially ambitious two-year timeline to commercial launch. That timeline slipped, unfortunately, largely due to delivery delays at Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner production facility. The airline’s first 787s were originally expected in late 2024, then mid-2025, before finally arriving in Saudi Arabia in June 2026, roughly a year and a half behind the original schedule.
Riyadh Air’s first genuine commercial passenger route between Riyadh and London Heathrow launched in late June 2026, using newly delivered Dreamliners. Additional routes to Cairo and Dubai have already been launched, and flights to Madrid and Manchester are due to start in July 2026.
The airline’s leadership, headed by chief executive Tony Douglas, previously of Etihad Airways, has been explicit that Riyadh Air is not trying to compete directly with Emirates or Qatar Airways as an East-West connecting hub. Instead, the strategy is built around point-to-point traffic, bringing visitors directly to Saudi Arabia’s tourism and mega-project developments rather than connecting passengers through Riyadh to other destinations.
Worth knowing: The repeated delays to Riyadh Air’s launch help explain why the recruitment and onboarding timeline has felt slow to some candidates. If you accept a role, it is worth going in with realistic expectations about how quickly the airline is scaling up its actual flying, rather than assuming immediate deployment onto a full international route network.
What Will You Be Flying?
Riyadh Air’s fleet is being built almost entirely from scratch, which means new joiners are training on genuinely new aircraft rather than an older, established fleet.
- Boeing 787 Dreamliner: The backbone of the airline’s initial international launch. 72 have been ordered in total, with the first two delivered in June 2026. These aircraft feature a bespoke and very premium interior.
- Airbus A350-1000: A firm order for 24 aircraft, with options for 25 more, which will help Riyadh Air expand it long-haul capacity considerably. Deliveries aren’t expected for another few years.
- Airbus A321neo: Riyadh Air has 60 of these narrowbody aircraft on order, intended for shorter regional routes rather than the flagship long-haul network.
Between the three aircraft types, Riyadh Air’s total order book stands at over 150 aircraft, a substantial commitment for a start-up carrier and a clear signal of how aggressively the airline intends to scale over the coming decade.
For candidates, an all-new fleet has a genuine upside: new aircraft, modern cabin products, and none of the wear and inconsistency that comes with an older, mixed fleet. The trade-off is a currently tiny route network that will expand steadily rather than the extensive day-one network an established carrier like Emirates already offers.
Minimum Requirements
Before you apply, you need to meet all of the following:
- Age: At least 21 years old at the time of application
- Height: Minimum 160cm
- Reach: Minimum 212cm, physically tested at the Assessment Day
- English: Fluent English is essential; other languages are considered an advantage
- Education: High school certificate or higher
- Experience: At least one year in hospitality or a customer-facing role
- Appearance: No visible tattoos or piercings while in uniform
- Fitness: Must be a confident swimmer and able to use flotation devices
- Relocation and right to work: Must meet Saudi employment visa requirements and be willing to relocate to Riyadh
These requirements are broadly consistent with Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways. No significant surprises for anyone already familiar with Gulf carrier standards.
A Genuinely Global Recruitment Drive
One of the more distinctive aspects of Riyadh Air’s recruitment strategy in comparison to Saudia Airlines is how widely it is casting its net. Assessment Days have taken place across a truly global spread of cities, including Sydney, Morocco, Brussels, Sofia, Milan, Dublin, Manchester, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Baku, Athens, Barcelona, Seoul, Jeddah, and Kuala Lumpur.
This signals something about the kind of crew Riyadh Air is trying to build. Saudia, the Kingdom’s long-established flag carrier, has historically recruited cabin crew predominantly from the Philippines. Riyadh Air’s approach is much closer to the genuinely multicultural crew model built by Emirates and Etihad.
Worth knowing: Social media speculation continues to circulate about certain nationalities allegedly being excluded from Riyadh Air recruitment, especially Egyptian and Pakistani candidates. As of now, there is no official Riyadh Air statement confirming any nationality-based hiring restriction. Some candidates have raised visa-related concerns in online forums, but these appear to reflect individual experiences and speculation rather than a stated company policy.
The Online Application
The only way to submit your application to become a member of cabin crew with Riyadh Air is via an online application. Riyadh Air does not hold Open Days in which you can simply show up with your CV or Resume and stand a chance of being recruited.
Instead, candidates submit their CV or Resume via Riyadh Air’s official careers website. The application is screened by an automated system known as an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which determines whether you meet the minimum requirements to progress to the next stage of the recruitment process.
In order to submit your application, you must select a specific Assessment Day location. If you pass both the initial ATS screening and Online Assessments, recruiters will invite you to the Assessment Day in the location you selected.
In order to pass this initial application stage, your CV or resume has to be optimized for cabin crew recruitment. We strongly recommend following our detailed guide to writing a winning cabin crew CV, which you can find in our Cabin Crew CV and Resume Hub.
Worth Knowing: The date of the Assessment Day you choose is not known in advance. You will only find out the date and specific location after you have passed both the initial application and the Online Assessments stage. If you can’t attend the Assessment Day on the date set by Riyadh Air, then recruiters will offer alternative dates, but these will normally be in another city, in another country. You must pay for your own travel to these Assessment Days.
The Online Assessment
Like an increasing number of international airlines, Riyadh Air requires candidates to complete a series of Online Assessments before their application is even seen by a human recruiter. This is where Riyadh Air’s process is more sophisticated than many Gulf carriers.
The online assessment has three distinct components, all completed within a single session:
- Situational judgment Test: An AI agent presents short, spoken cabin crew-related scenarios on screen. After each one, you are given several response options and asked to choose the answer that reflects the best judgment and professionalism.
- Timed video response Test: A six-minute timer begins as soon as you start this section. You are shown a question: “Why do you want to become Riyadh Air cabin crew?” or something similar (the exact phrasing changes). You the. have up to two minutes to record an answer. Re-recording is allowed, but it uses time from the same six-minute clock, so time management matters.
- Listening comprehension Test: You listen to a spoken passage of a customer service scenario, such as an agent speaking with an upset client, and then answer a question based on what you heard.
The full online assessment is reported to take no more than 30 minutes, and candidates have 20 days from the invitation to complete it. We recommend taking some time to prepare for this Online Assessment, but completing the process as soon as possible after you receive the invitation.
To help you prepare for this process, we have built a significant library of resources to help you succeed. Start by visiting our Cabin Crew Online Assessments Hub →
The hub includes a Situational Judgement Practice Test, practice Aptitude Tests, English Language Tests, and an extensive guide on how to prepare for an On-Demand Video Interview.
The Assessment Day
Riyadh Air Assessment Days are invitation-only. Candidates who pass the online assessment are invited to attend an in-person event in one of the cities on the airline’s recruitment schedule. Do not attempt to attend without a confirmed invitation.
This is what happens at a Riyadh Air Assessment Day:
Arrival and Presentation
The day opens with a welcome breakfast, followed by a presentation on the company, the role, and life in Saudi Arabia, with time given for candidate questions. Candidates are then divided into groups based on numbers assigned at check-in. Expect between 90 – 100 candidates in total, which will then be split into smaller groups.
The Icebreaker Round
Candidates pair up, learn something about their partner, and introduce them to the wider group. This is an early, informal opportunity for recruiters to observe how candidates communicate and put others at ease.
The Group Exercise
Candidates are given flight-related situational scenarios to read and discuss, passed between candidates on a tablet. This is incredibly similar to group scenario exercises at other major airline recruitment events. The recruiters are assessing how you interact with other candidates, how you use teamwork to resolve problems, and whether you can work under time pressure.
Photos and Height Check
This is a standard check that ensures you meet Riyadh Air’s minimum height and reach requirements. You will also submit your photos for review. Your photos will be used by recruiters to remember your face against your candidate file.
The Final Interview
Making it to the final interview stage at Riyadh Air means a recruiter already sees potential in you. This is your opportunity to confirm that impression with specific, honest, well-structured answers.
The format is in-person, conducted on the same day as the Assessment Day rather than as a separate stage. Questions are competency-based, designed to reveal how you actually behave under pressure rather than a rehearsed answer.
Questions that you may be asked, include:
“Why do you want to become a flight attendant?” – Tests whether you have thought seriously about the realities of the role rather than being drawn purely by the glamour of the brand.
“Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult coworker.” – A teamwork and conflict-resolution question. Recruiters want a specific example, not a general statement about being a team player.
“How would you handle working long hours?” – Tests resilience and realistic self-awareness about the physical demands of the role.
“If selected, when would you be available to join?” – A practical logistics question, but also an early signal of your genuine commitment level.
The Final Interview requires a lot of preparation to ensure you can answer the questions confidently. We have a dedicated Interview Preparation Hub to ensure you can perform your best.
Worth knowing: With a new airline still building its interview question bank, expect some variation between events and locations. The competencies being tested, teamwork, resilience, genuine motivation, and customer focus, are consistent with every other major Gulf carrier.
The Offer
Expect a response from a few days to as long as six weeks. This might seem like an incredibly long time, but Riyadh Air is building an entirely new cabin crew workforce on a massive scale. Expecting some delays and remaining patient during this process will set you up for success when you are working as cabin crew.
Medical Testing
Gulf carriers typically conduct medical testing after a conditional offer is made, covering general fitness for flying duties, vision, and hearing standards. Riyadh Air is no different. You will be required to submit a detailed medical report conducted by your physician to the airline for full review. This process is paid for by you, and if you don’t pass this process, you won’t be reimbursed.
On arrival in Saudi Arabia, you will also undergo a seperate medical assessment, so there is no point in trying to deceive the recruiters. The local medical examination will also include blood tests, which screen for a number of issues, including blood-borne viruses, including HIV.
Training
Riyadh Air’s careers material confirms that new cabin crew receive full salary payment during their entire training period, a genuine benefit given that some airlines pay a reduced training allowance. Training is expected to take place in Riyadh, consistent with other Gulf carriers, though the specific duration and curriculum have not been independently confirmed.
What Is Life Like in Saudi Arabia?
For most cabin crew candidates, moving to Riyadh will be a bigger cultural adjustment than moving to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia has opened up significantly over the past several years as part of the same Vision 2030 reforms that created Riyadh Air, but it remains a more conservative society than the UAE, and candidates should go in with accurate expectations rather than assumptions carried over from Emirates or Etihad content.
The pace of change has been real. Cinemas, previously banned, have reopened. Women can drive, travel independently, and work across a far wider range of industries than a decade ago. Concerts, sporting events, and large public entertainment venues have become a genuine part of Riyadh’s social life as the government invests heavily in reshaping the Kingdom’s global image and diversifying its economy away from oil.
Alcohol remains illegal for the vast majority of residents, including almost all cabin crew. Since early 2026, Saudi Arabia has quietly allowed a narrow group of wealthy foreign residents to legally purchase alcohol from a single, discreet store in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, a change to a prohibition that had been in place since 1952. Eligibility is restricted to non-Muslim foreign residents who either hold a Premium Residency permit, costing 100,000 Saudi riyals (around $27,000) per year, or earn a minimum salary of 50,000 riyals a month, roughly $13,300. That threshold is far beyond what any new cabin crew member earns, and the policy has not been officially confirmed by the Saudi government. For all practical purposes, alcohol remains off-limits for cabin crew living in Riyadh, in a way that is a genuine lifestyle difference from Dubai or Abu Dhabi’s more permissive approach to alcohol in licensed venues.
Dress expectations are more conservative than in the UAE, particularly for women, although this has relaxed considerably in recent years. The abaya is no longer a strict legal requirement for women in public in the way it once was, but modest dress is still the cultural norm and expected of residents.
The cost of living in Riyadh is generally lower than in Dubai, and accommodation packages for new cabin crew typically follow the same model as other Gulf carriers, company-provided or subsidised housing.
Riyadh itself is a genuinely large, modern capital city with significant ongoing infrastructure investment, but it does not yet have the decades of established expat infrastructure that Dubai has built up. Candidates moving to Riyadh should expect a city still very much in the process of building out the amenities, social scene, and expat community that Dubai already has.
Insight: Saudi Arabia’s social reforms are real and ongoing, but the pace and scope of change should not be assumed to match the UAE. If a decision between Riyadh Air and a UAE-based carrier comes down to lifestyle preferences rather than the job itself, it is worth researching current, specific expat experiences in Riyadh directly rather than assuming it will feel similar to Dubai.
How to Apply
Applications are submitted through the Riyadh Air careers website.
For everything you need to prepare, start with these resources:
