Chinese Carriers Expand Middle East Connectivity With Saudi, Iran Routes

China Eastern Airlines is set to become the first Chinese carrier to launch regular scheduled service to Saudi Arabia as diplomatic and economic ties between the two nations continue to strengthen.

The SkyTeam alliance member—alongside Chinese counterparts Air China, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines—has previously offered nonstop flights to points in the Middle East country. However, these have been limited-time services specifically designed to accommodate religious traffic during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The carrier’s first regular scheduled route will commence on April 8, connecting its Shanghai Pudong International Airport hub and Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH). The 4,509-mi. (3,918-nm) sector will be served three times per week using Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with a block time of about 10 hr. 30 min.

The planned launch of the route comes four months after China Eastern mapped out its future network priorities, which included opening service to Riyadh alongside flights to cities such as Athens, Buenos Aires, Hanoi, Johannesburg and Manchester. The airline foresees launching 18 international routes from Shanghai as part of the next phase of its expansion.

According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, Saudia is the only airline currently offering nonstop flights between Saudi Arabia and China, with a total of four routes. The carrier operates longstanding flights to Guangzhou from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) and RUH, flying 2X-weekly and 3X-weekly, respectively. In addition, Saudia has recently introduced two new services from JED and RUH to Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX).

Hainan Airlines has also indicated its intention to commence scheduled China-Saudi Arabia flights after securing support from the Saudi Air Connectivity Program to launch two new routes. The Haikou-based airline also recently awarded a contract to SATS for cargo handling services in the kingdom.

Prior to the pandemic, O&D traffic between Saudi Arabia and mainland China totaled some 300,000 two-way passengers in 2019, Sabre Market Intelligence data shows, representing an increase of 19% on the previous 12 months. Guangzhou-Jeddah and Guangzhou-Riyadh were the biggest city pairs during the year, followed by Beijing-Dammam.

Preliminary figures for 2023 reveal O&D traffic of about 283,000 two-way passengers, with around one-third of those flying nonstop. Dubai was the largest one-stop market, followed by fellow Gulf hubs Abu Dhabi and Doha.

The increased air service between mainland China and Saudi Arabia comes amid strengthening diplomatic and economic ties. Trade between the two countries was worth more than $106 billion in 2022, according to Saudi government figures, helped by Chinese imports of oil.

Inward investment is also flowing into Saudi Arabia from Chinese companies as the Middle East country seeks to diversify its economy away from oil as part of its Vision 2030 strategy. Tourism plays an important role in that ambition, with Saudi Arabia targeting 3 million tourists annually from China by the end of the decade.

Alongside China Eastern’s planned expansion to Saudi Arabia, China Southern is also increasing its footprint in the Middle East region. According to OAG data, the carrier intends commence flights between Beijing Daxing and Tehran, the Iranian capital. Operations will start on April 15 with two flights per week using A330-300 aircraft.

China Southern already serves the Iran market, flying 2X-weekly to Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) from Urumqi. Iran’s Mahan Air is the only other airline to serve China-Iran nonstop, providing four routes from IKA to Beijing Capital, Guangzhou, Shanghai Pudong and Shenzhen.