RIYADH AIR: Launches Sfeer loyalty program and Hafawa lounge

Riyadh Air has introduced Sfeer (meaning ‘Ambassador’ in Arabic), a loyalty program designed to be digital from the ground up. Expect a spend-based reward program, with most of the usual benefits.

But there are a few intriguing signposts for the yet-to-be fully detailed program. Here’s a summary of what we know, and what it might mean:

• Community point sharing — members can pool or share points, status credits, or qualifying spend with friends and family to help boost their loyalty tier
• No points expiry — points last forever
• Gamified features — future enhancements are expected to include leaderboards, challenges, and engagement tools to encourage interaction. Gamification, trumpeted as a feature is usually a way to keep your engaged to spend more
• Founders perks — if you register early you will receive priority access to bookings on new routes and special launch privileges, yet to be outlined
• Digital platform — the program is built using Loyalty Juggernaut’s GRAVTY® platform, which promises real-time engagement, AI-driven personalisation, and mobile-first architecture

in an exemplary use of puffery, Riyadh Air positions Sfeer as not simply a frequent flyer scheme, but as a ‘lifestyle ecosystem’ (vomit) focused on ‘community, flexibility, and digital engagement’.

Hafawa Lounge at Riyadh Airport

If Riyadh Air’s new Sfeer loyalty program is all about digital connection and shared rewards, the airline’s Hafawa Lounge at King Khalid International Airport is where those promises meet the real world.

This is Riyadh Air’s first premium airport lounge, and it’s designed to prove that Saudi Arabia’s newest airline can compete with the likes of Etihad, Qatar Airways and Emirates when it comes to Business Class pampering.

Where

It will be located between Terminals 1 and 2 at Riyadh King Khalid Airport (RUH). The Hafawa Lounge is open to Riyadh Air Business Class passengers and top-tier Sfeer members. It seats around 370 guests and keeps the usual corporate neutrals, portraying them as soft desert tones and sculpted wood. The moody lighting evokes a boutique hotel more than a boarding gate. It’s a nod to Saudi design and hospitality, but with an international polish that frequent flyers will find familiar.

What the lounge delivers

Instead of one large space full of travellers guarding the last seat by the power outlet, Hafawa, like many contemporary lounges, is divided into zones.

There’s a quiet area for those who actually want to rest, private suites for families or VIPs, a social lounge for networking (or hiding behind your laptop), and a full-service dining room for anyone with a buffet allergy. The non-alcoholic bar pours craft mocktails and barista coffee, a subtle reminder that this is Saudi style, not Sky Club excess. Saudi has not relaxed its alcohol laws enough for this lounge to have a proper bar, yet.

For early adopters of the Sfeer loyalty program, access to Hafawa is the first tangible perk. It’s also a preview of Riyadh Air’s ambition to blend Saudi hospitality, digital innovation, and design into an experience that both hails the future and is grounded in place.

2PAXfly Takeout

Given that these days a loyalty program can earn more for an airline than international flying itself, the Sfeer program is an important announcement. How rewarding it will be for flyers is yet to be seen.

Let’s hope the Hafawa Lounge at Riyadh Airport is a taste of what we can expect from an eventual lounge network for the airline. Currently, it will only service Business Class flyers and founding members of the Sfeer loyalty program flying to London Heathrow or Dubai on Riyadh Air’s inaugural routes. Still, it should be an indication of how Saudi Arabia’s new national airline is shaping up. It will offer a glimpse of what premium travel on Riyadh Air will look like in 2025 and beyond.