Riyadh Air Cleared By Regulator For China Debut

Riyadh Air has secured regulatory approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to launch flights to Beijing and Shanghai.

According to the CAAC’s second-quarter 2026 international route approvals, the airline has been authorized to operate 3X-weekly passenger and cargo flights between the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and Beijing and 4X-weekly passenger and cargo flights between Riyadh and Shanghai.

The approvals clear the way for Riyadh Air to enter the mainland China market, although the carrier has not yet announced when services to the country will begin.

The move comes as Riyadh Air builds its international network following the arrival of its first Boeing 787-9s. The carrier has launched flights from Riyadh King Khalid International Airport to Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia, as well as Cairo, Dubai and London Heathrow. Service to Bangladesh capital Dhaka, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid and Malaga in Spain, Manchester, England, and Mumbai, India, are to follow in the coming days and weeks.

In June, the startup also received approval from the U.S. Transportation Department to operate service to the U.S. Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas has said the airline aims to serve more than 100 destinations by the end of the decade.

OAG Schedules Analyser data shows the Saudi Arabia-mainland China market is currently dominated by Saudia, which accounts for about 60% of scheduled seats during the summer 2026 season. Chinese airlines—including Hainan Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines—operate the remaining capacity.

The largest airport pairs are Guangzhou, China-Riyadh; Guangzhou-Jeddah; Haikou, China-Jeddah; Beijing Daxing-Riyadh; Beijing Capital-Riyadh; and Shanghai-Riyadh.

Other CAAC Route Nods

The CAAC’s latest list of route approvals also included several other foreign airline applications. Algeria’s flag carrier Air Algerie has received the green light to serve Algiers-Shanghai Pudong. The airline intends to launch a 3X-weekly service from Oct. 25 using Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.

Other newly approved passenger routes include Jin Air to operate flights from Seoul to Yantai and Yichang, China; Sun PhuQuoc Airways to serve Beijing and Chengdu, China, from Phu Quoc, Vietnam; and Russian carrier Rossiya Airlines to fly from Krasnoyarsk, Russia, to Guangzhou and Shanghai, China.