Air France Plans Riyadh Return, Strengthens Partnership With Saudia

Air France-KLM is set to enhance its presence in Saudi Arabia with new services and a fresh partnership with fellow SkyTeam alliance member Saudia.

Starting in summer 2025, Air France plans to launch nonstop flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH), marking its return to the route after a more than six-year hiatus. The airline suspended service between CDG and RUH in January 2019 and the Saudi market has remained absent from its network ever since.

With the route addition, all three Air France-KLM Group airlines—Air France, KLM, and Transavia—will serve the Saudi market. LCC Transavia France is set to launch flights to Jeddah from Paris Orly and Lyon in the coming days, while KLM already operates flights to Riyadh and Dammam from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

This expansion is supported by the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, a Saudi government initiative designed to boost tourism by increasing air connectivity to key destinations.

“Saudi Arabia is rapidly emerging as a world-class destination and a key gateway,” Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith said Dec. 3. “We are delighted to support the Kingdom in this new chapter by expanding our connections and strengthening our existing ones.”

Alongside the route expansion, Air France-KLM and Saudia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deepen their partnership. Under the agreement, the airlines intend to “significantly expand” expand their existing codeshare and interline commercial agreements between France, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

The MOU also includes initiatives to optimize operations and improve customer experience, notably through terminal co-location at key airports, as well as enhanced MRO cooperation that could lead to a joint venture on 787 GEnx engines.

Currently, there are four nonstop routes between France and Saudi Arabia, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. Saudia operates three of the routes, connecting CDG with Jeddah, Madinah and Riyadh. Flynas serves the remaining route, connecting Jeddah and Marseille.

Transavia France will add to that by on Dec. 12 commencing operations from Paris Orly to Jeddah, followed by a route from Lyon the next day. Both services will be offered twice a week using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Speaking to Aviation Week in October, Transavia France Chief Commercial Officer Nicolas Henin said the Saudi routes are “pushing the limits” of its network in terms of distance. Asked if that could mean the carrier considers longer-range aircraft, he confirmed that the carrier is considering the potential of the Airbus A321XLR aircraft but has no immediate plans to incorporate them into its fleet.

After securing the Transavia France routes, Saudi Air Connectivity Program CEO Majid Khan told Aviation Week in November that the program has already exceeded its targets in 2024 by gaining 22 new routes and attracting 12 international airlines. It is now seeking to attract a further 10 new airlines to the country over the next 12 months, targeting carriers from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Khan said the Saudi Arabia General Authority of Civil Aviation has been “very supportive” of the ambitions, pointing to several new air transport agreements and memoranda of understandings that have been signed in recent months. The latest international agreement to enhance connectivity, signed on Dec. 2, was with Lithuania.