Saudi Arabia is significantly increasing air capacity to two of its most important long-haul tourism markets, with Saudia adding flights to New York, Beijing and Guangzhou as the Kingdom pushes ahead with plans to connect to more than 250 international destinations by 2030.
The expansion, announced by the Saudi Air Connectivity Program (ACP) in collaboration with national carrier Saudia, will provide more than 428,000 seats annually in both directions across the three routes linking Saudi Arabia with the United States and China.
The biggest increase comes between New York JFK and Jeddah, where Saudia is adding three weekly flights, taking the service from four flights a week to daily operation.
The expanded schedule will provide more than 211,000 seats annually in both directions, substantially improving access to Jeddah from the US East Coast and providing onward connections within Saudi Arabia and across the Saudia network.
China is receiving additional capacity at both of Saudi Arabia’s principal international gateways.
Saudia’s Guangzhou–Jeddah service gains an additional weekly frequency, increasing from three to four flights per week, with more than 124,000 annual seats in both directions.
Between Beijing Daxing and Riyadh, an additional weekly service takes Saudia to three flights per week, providing more than 93,000 seats annually.
For Saudi tourism, the significance goes beyond the additional frequencies. The expansion provides further evidence of a deliberate strategy to strengthen direct access from high-value and high-potential long-haul source markets as the Kingdom moves towards its target of 150 million domestic and international tourists annually by 2030.
New York becomes a daily Saudia service
The move to seven weekly flights between JFK and Jeddah is arguably the most significant of the three changes for international travellers.
A daily service provides considerably greater flexibility than the previous four-times-weekly schedule, particularly for premium leisure and business travellers whose itineraries are less easily structured around limited operating days.
It also strengthens Jeddah’s role as Saudi Arabia’s principal western gateway.
For US visitors, Jeddah is not simply the entry point for the city itself. It provides access to the rapidly developing tourism offer along Saudi Arabia’s western seaboard and connections throughout the Kingdom.
The expansion also comes as Saudi Arabia’s tourism proposition becomes considerably more diverse. Beyond religious travel, international visitors can increasingly combine Jeddah with destinations such as AlUla and the emerging Red Sea resorts, while the Kingdom’s domestic aviation network provides connections with Riyadh and other regions.
The 211,000-plus annual seats available on JFK–Jeddah also represent a substantial increase in direct capacity from one of the world’s most important long-haul markets.
China connectivity expands again
The additional flights to Beijing and Guangzhou form part of a much broader effort to develop China as a major inbound tourism market.
Saudi Arabia has spent several years progressively removing obstacles to Chinese travel while expanding direct air links.
The development has involved not only Saudia but an increasingly broad range of Chinese airlines.
The scale of that network expansion is striking.
An international tourism-sector study of Saudi Arabia’s China Initiative records partnerships involving five Chinese airlines as well as Saudia, including Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Routes have linked Saudi Arabia with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Haikou and Hong Kong, among other gateways.
The network has continued to expand.
In September 2025, for example, China Southern launched a new Guangzhou–Riyadh service three times weekly, adding more than 86,000 annual seats. ACP said that route followed the success of China Southern’s direct Riyadh–Shenzhen operation.
Hainan Airlines has meanwhile opened a direct Haikou–Jeddah service operating three times a week.
The latest increases to Saudia’s Guangzhou and Beijing services therefore represent another layer of capacity rather than isolated route additions.
China emerges as a priority tourism market
There is a clear tourism strategy behind the aviation expansion.
Saudi Arabia has previously set out ambitions to make China one of its largest international source markets, supported by increased air capacity, easier visa access and services specifically adapted for Chinese visitors.
The Kingdom’s China strategy has included cooperation with Chinese travel and technology companies and measures designed to improve the visitor experience, including Mandarin-language services and digital platforms.
The importance of direct aviation connectivity is obvious.
China’s geographical scale and the distance from Saudi Arabia mean that convenient nonstop services can have a major impact on the attractiveness of the destination for both leisure groups and independent travellers.
Increasing frequencies also gives tour operators greater freedom in constructing itineraries.
Four weekly Saudia flights between Guangzhou and Jeddah and three between Beijing Daxing and Riyadh mean that both of Saudi Arabia’s major gateways now have stronger links with two of China’s most important metropolitan regions.
And those Saudia services form only part of the total China-Saudi network.
Two gateways, two increasingly distinct roles
The route expansion also illustrates the complementary roles being developed for Riyadh and Jeddah within Saudi Arabia’s aviation strategy.
Riyadh is developing rapidly as an international business, events and leisure destination and is preparing for major global events including Expo 2030.
Jeddah combines its role as a major commercial and tourism centre with its position as the principal aviation gateway for Makkah and much of western Saudi Arabia.
It is also strategically positioned for the growth of tourism along the Red Sea coast.
The Saudi Aviation Strategy explicitly envisages the development of two major long-haul connecting hubs in Riyadh and Jeddah, supported by an expanded network of national and international airlines.
The latest Saudia expansion neatly reflects that model: Beijing feeds Riyadh, while New York and Guangzhou receive additional capacity into Jeddah.
ACP moves from opening routes to building frequency
There is another interesting aspect to the announcement.
Much of the attention surrounding Saudi Arabia’s Air Connectivity Program has focused on the launch of new routes and new airlines.
But connectivity is not simply a question of how many destinations appear on a route map.
Frequency matters.
A destination served once or twice a week may technically have direct connectivity, but it remains difficult for tour operators, business travellers and premium leisure clients to use flexibly.
The latest Saudia announcement shows ACP increasingly working on the second stage of network development: adding capacity to routes where demand has already been established.
ACP describes itself as an executive enabler of both the National Tourism Strategy and Saudi Aviation Strategy, working with public and private partners to develop existing routes as well as attract new ones.
Its current figures demonstrate how rapidly that activity has grown.
ACP says it has now worked with 17 partner airlines on 69 routes, generating 4.8 million seats.
The programme has been active well beyond the US and Chinese markets.
In Europe, for example, ACP worked with Transavia France to develop services from Paris-Orly and Lyon to Jeddah and subsequently expand the carrier’s Saudi network with direct services from Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse to Madinah.
The approach combines attracting new airlines and routes with strengthening services that demonstrate sufficient demand.
Aviation growth already running at remarkable pace
The additional Saudia capacity comes against a backdrop of rapid expansion across Saudi aviation.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Annual Report 2025 says the country’s airports handled 140.9 million passengers and more than 980,000 flights in 2025, compared with 85 million passengers and 709,000 flights in 2016.
The report also records 17 new international routes and more than 4.8 million seats added during 2025.
Yet the ambitions for the next four years are considerably greater.
Under the Saudi Aviation Strategy, the Kingdom aims to reach 330 million airport passengers annually by 2030, connect Saudi Arabia with more than 250 destinations, and increase annual air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tonnes.
The strategy is backed by around US$100 billion in public and private investment and envisages two global long-haul connecting hubs.
The transformation encompasses airport infrastructure as well as airlines.
Riyadh’s future King Salman International Airport is being developed alongside the growth of Riyadh Air, while Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport is planned for further expansion. Airports serving emerging tourism destinations, including Red Sea International Airport, add another dimension to the network.
Air access becomes critical to the 150-million-tourist target
The connection between aviation and tourism is becoming increasingly important as Saudi Arabia’s visitor numbers grow.
The Kingdom welcomed 123 million domestic and international tourists in 2025, including more than 30 million international visitors, according to the Vision 2030 Annual Report. Tourism spending reached approximately US$81 billion.
Saudi Arabia has already surpassed its original target of 100 million annual tourists and has raised its ambition to 150 million by 2030.
The Air Connectivity Program explicitly identifies that tourism objective as part of its mandate. Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb says ACP is intended to help support the 150-million visitor target while contributing to employment and the expansion of tourism’s economic contribution.
Aviation capacity will consequently need to grow alongside hotels, resorts and destinations.
For international tour operators and luxury travel advisors, that development is particularly important.
Opening spectacular new resorts or heritage destinations has limited effect internationally if travellers cannot reach them conveniently. More direct services – and, crucially, more frequent services – make Saudi Arabia easier to package as a standalone destination and easier to combine with wider regional itineraries.
The move to a daily New York–Jeddah service, together with increased Saudia capacity from Beijing and Guangzhou, is therefore more than a timetable adjustment.
It represents another step in the creation of the international aviation network needed to support Saudi Arabia’s next phase of tourism growth.
With more than 428,000 annual seats across these three Saudia routes alone, stronger access from the United States and China, and a national target of more than 250 international destinations by the end of the decade, Saudi Arabia is steadily turning air connectivity into one of the principal enablers of its tourism ambitions.
For the international travel trade, the practical result is equally important: Saudi Arabia is not only adding destinations to the map – it is becoming progressively easier to reach, on more days of the week, from some of the world’s most important long-haul markets.
The official announcements are available from Saudi Air Connectivity Program and Saudi Press Agency
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