Air France-KLM to expand footprint in Saudi Arabia, with the support of the Saudi Air Connectivity Program

On the sidelines of the Saudi-French Investment Forum in Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Air France-KLM today announced its plan to expand its footprint in Saudi Arabia, with the upcoming launch of a new service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Riyadh, operated by Air France, during the summer of 2025. 

This announcement was made in the presence of Deputy Minister of Tourism for International Affairs Sultan AlMusallam. It comes a few days before Transavia, the low-cost arm of Air France-KLM launches services to Jeddah from Paris-Orly and Lyon.

With these new services, all three airlines of the Air France-KLM Group (Air France, KLM and Transavia) will be serving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as KLM already flies to Riyadh and Dammam on departure from its hub at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

Air France-KLM is supported in these developments by the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, a program of the Saudi government.

Benjamin Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM stated: “Saudi Arabia is rapidly emerging as a world-class destination and a key gateway. We are delighted to support the Kingdom in this new chapter by expanding our connections and strengthening our existing ones, and thank the Saudi Air Connectivity Program for its valuable support.” 

Majid Khan, CEO of Air Connectivity Program stated: “We are delighted to welcome Air France to the Kingdom, as part of our wider efforts to increase air connectivity to key destinations and ensure travel to the Kingdom is a seamless experience. Air connectivity holds immense potential to boost tourism development. The commencement of direct flights from Air France-KLM between King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh and Charles de Gaulle, Paris from Summer 2025, will enable the two-way flow of thousands more tourists between our two great countries.”

Note to editors: Earlier today, Air France-KLM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudia, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, which lays the foundation for a strengthened cooperation between the carriers. This agreement notably covers expanded codeshare and interline agreements, thereby providing customers with more travel options between and beyond the hubs of Air France-KLM and Saudia.