Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air adds 4 South Asia routes in August

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia's new national carrier, is set for a major network expansion in August with the addition of four South Asian destinations. The airline launched daily Boeing 787-9 flights from Riyadh to Mumbai, India, on August 4, daily flights to Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 7, daily flights to Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 14, and three weekly flights to Lahore, Pakistan, starting August 16.

This expansion brings Riyadh Air's network to nine destinations. The carrier began commercial operations earlier this year, with a strategic goal of expanding its network to 22 destinations by March 2027 and serving over 100 international cities by the end of this decade.

The new South Asian destinations target Saudi Arabia's largest expatriate and labor markets while strengthening Riyadh's position as a connectivity hub between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The airline stated that the Pakistan routes will serve business, leisure, labor, and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) traffic.

This network expansion comes just weeks after Riyadh Air confirmed an additional order for six Airbus A350-1000 aircraft and exercised options for 28 Boeing 787 aircraft at the Farnborough Airshow. The airline also recently received regulatory approval to launch flights to Beijing and Shanghai, as well as authorization to begin operations to the United States.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Etihad Airways launched daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on August 9, continuing its expansion into the Central Asian market. The route coincides with a new codeshare partnership launched with Uzbekistan Airways, allowing Etihad passengers to reach eight destinations within Uzbekistan on a single ticket, while Abu Dhabi and Etihad's network are also opened to Uzbekistan Airways customers.

In Europe, Condor Airlines launched daily flights between Frankfurt and Tel Aviv on August 1. The route marks the German leisure carrier's return to Israel on its 70th anniversary and restores a destination that was among the airline's inaugural routes in 1956.

International air routes to Syria continue to reopen. SunExpress launched twice-weekly flights from Antalya and Izmir, Turkey, to Aleppo, Syria, on August 1 and August 2, respectively, becoming one of the latest international carriers to return to the northern Syrian city. Flynas also added flights from Riyadh to Aleppo starting August 1.