Beginning on the 8th of April, 2024, China Eastern Airlines is set to inaugurate a thrice-weekly direct “Air Silk Road” service, seamlessly connecting Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) with Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH). This strategic expansion of their flight network will deploy an Airbus A330-200, boasting a substantial annual capacity to welcome 35,880 inbound passengers.
This promising collaboration is a direct response to the burgeoning curiosity and demand for direct travel links between the two nations. Moreover, it is in harmonious alignment with Saudi Arabia’s strategic initiatives to strengthen its bilateral relations with China. This direct flight route is poised to foster cultural exchanges and pave the way for new avenues of mutual growth and development.
“The launch of this new air bridge with one of the globe’s foremost aviation players represents a significant stride in fortifying the connectivity between Saudi Arabia and China, which stands as a pivotal market for us. We eagerly anticipate our collaborative efforts with China Eastern Airlines to facilitate both tourism and commerce, enabling a rich exploration of the diverse attractions and lucrative opportunities that both countries generously offer,” said Majid Khan, CEO of ACP.
Echoing this sentiment, China Eastern Airlines is enthusiastic about this venture, viewing the inauguration of this route as not merely the commencement of an alliance with ACP but also the dawn of a deeper symbiosis between the two countries.
The stakeholders of this initiative foresee a burgeoning era of amplified trade, enriched people-to-people relations, and a broadened spectrum of sector-wide dialogues, all fostered under the auspices of the ‘Air Silk Road’ endeavour.
Bolstered by its Vision 2030 – a bold blueprint for economic diversification with a focus on burgeoning sectors such as tourism and aviation – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aspires to ascend as the preeminent aviation nexus in the Middle East, ideally situated as the pivotal juncture bridging the East with the West. In the preceding year, 2023, Saudi Arabia astonishingly realised its target of attracting 100 million tourists, which included a remarkable 27 million international visitors, surpassing its original timeline by an impressive seven years. Buoyed by this success, the Kingdom has now set its sights on an even more ambitious goal: to draw 150 million tourists, of which 70 million are expected to be international, by the year 2030.
The Saudi Air Connectivity Program (ACP), under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, dedicates its mission to enhancing air connections from both unserved and underserved global markets to the Kingdom. The ACP stands at the crossroads of tourism and aviation, diligently constructing bridges across the stakeholder ecosystem. This is with the ultimate aim of realising the National Tourism Strategy’s vision and cementing Saudi Arabia’s status as an international exemplar in tourism air connectivity.
China Eastern Airlines, one of China’s esteemed state-owned aviation carriers, has its origins in the inaugural civil aviation squadron, established with pride in Shanghai in January of 1957. Listed with distinction on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, China Eastern manages an impressive fleet of roughly 800 aircraft, notable as one of the youngest fleets gracing our skies. Moreover, it proudly possesses the most expansive widebody fleet within China’s borders, featuring a suite of the most advanced commercial and technical aviation models in the industry.
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Photo – top of page – Shimin / Wikimedia Commons
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