Air France-KLM has 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.
The announcement followed the signing of an agreement between Air France-KLM and the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, 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 government program.
“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,” said Air France-KLM chief executive Benjamin Smith.
Air Connectivity Program Chief Executive Majid Khan stated that, “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.”
