China Southern Airlines will continue to grow its presence in the Middle East during the summer 2024 season with the launch of a second route to Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of debuting its first nonstop flights to the country from April 16 with service connecting Beijing Daxing and Riyadh, the carrier has filed plans for a second route to the kingdom from Shenzhen, starting in June.

From June 3, China Southern will commence flights from Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport to Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (RUH), operating twice a week utilizing Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The airline will be the sole operator of the 4,199-mi. (3,649-nm) route, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.

China Southern—alongside Chinese counterparts Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines—have offered limited-time flights to Saudi Arabia in the past to cater to religious traffic, but the two new scheduled routes to Riyadh will be its first regular services to the country.

The Guangzhou-based airline’s entry to the market will follow the launch of China Eastern’s inaugural Saudi Arabian service from April 8 linking Shanghai Pudong and Riyadh. Flights will be offered three times per week using A330-200 aircraft.

The Saudi Air Connectivity Program, set up to enhance air connectivity to unserved and underserved markets, is supporting the two new China Southern routes to the kingdom. The move is part of efforts to make China one of Saudi Arabia’s top three source markets for tourists by 2030.

Saudia is currently the only airline offering nonstop flights between Saudi Arabia and China, with a total of four routes. The airline serves Guangzhou from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) and RUH, flying 2X-weekly and 3X-weekly, respectively. It has also recently opened new services from JED and RUH to Beijing Daxing.

Before the pandemic, data from Sabre Market Intelligence indicates that O&D traffic between Saudi Arabia and mainland China reached approximately 300,000 two-way passengers in 2019, marking a 19% increase from the previous year. Preliminary figures for 2023 show O&D traffic of around 283,000 two-way passengers.