Passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia rose 34% to a record 1.3 million direct passengers in 2024, doubling from 659,000 passengers achieved in 2022.
UK-Saudi passenger numbers were boosted by British Airways commencing direct flights between Heathrow and Jeddah, as well as national carrier Saudia Airlines expanding its network and operations. Further growth is planned with Virgin Airways' direct flights from Riyadh to Heathrow from March this year.
The figures were revealed ahead of the Saudi delegation visit to London headed by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) executive vice president of strategy and business intelligence Mohammed Al-Khuraisi.
“Saudi Arabia is creating unprecedented growth and investment opportunities for global aviation, including the United Kingdom where both countries are achieving record passenger growth,” said Al-Khuraisi. “The United Kingdom’s expertise in aviation and infrastructure, combined with the growth agenda of the Saudi Aviation Strategy, is delivering new commercial partnerships across our airports, airlines and aviation service sectors.”
The Saudi aviation sector is implementing its aviation strategy to unlock $100bn in investment to triple passenger numbers to 330 million per year. In 2024 passenger numbers rose 15% to a record 128 million, 24% above pre-pandemic levels, with flight numbers rising by 11% to 902,000. There was also a 16% increase in connectivity with the Kingdom now connected to 172 destinations on a weekly basis around the world, and a 34% increase in cargo volumes to 1.2m tonnes.