Japan's ANA and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air Sign Memorandum to Expand Route Network

en.Wedoany.com Reported - All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Air have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on route network development and explore potential arrangements such as code-sharing.

Riyadh Air, a Saudi startup carrier that launched operations in June, plans to build an international route network with Riyadh, the Saudi capital, as its hub. In a joint statement, the two companies said they hope to establish convenient connections between Riyadh and Tokyo via major transfer points, while leaving room for continued expansion of the route network in the future. Currently, neither carrier operates flights between Saudi Arabia and Japan. Data from OAG's Schedules Analyser shows that only Saudia currently operates between Riyadh and Tokyo, offering 1,788 seats in both directions between King Khalid International Airport (RUH) and Narita Airport (NRT).

Riyadh Air added four new routes from Riyadh Airport (RUH) this month, all operating daily with Boeing 787-9 aircraft, serving Dhaka in Bangladesh, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan, and Mumbai in India. The new routes bring its number of destinations to nine, and the company plans to expand to 22 destinations by March 2027, ultimately serving more than 100 international cities by 2030.

The two parties stated that this partnership, subject to regulatory approval, will leverage Riyadh Air's hub in Riyadh and ANA's dual hubs at Narita (NRT) and Tokyo Haneda to provide smoother travel options and improve accessibility in domestic and international markets. The two companies expect to cooperate on interlining, code-sharing, and frequent flyer program reciprocity. ANA CEO Juichi Hirasawa said ANA has "an ambition to connect Japan with Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East—a region of significant economic growth."

At the recent Farnborough Airshow, Riyadh Air confirmed an additional order for six Airbus A350-1000 aircraft and exercised options for 28 Boeing 787 aircraft. The carrier also recently received regulatory approval to launch operations on routes to Beijing, Shanghai, and the United States.