Air France marks 30 years of service to Kingdom

Air France is marking 30 years of scheduled passenger services to Saudi Arabia. Services to Riyadh began in 1983 and Air France has linked Saudi Arabia to the rest of the world continuously ever since.
After a commemorative flight to King Khaled International Airport with water-cannon salute and a cake-cutting event on Dec. 7, Air France continued the celebrations by hosting a private reception at the official residence of the French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Bertrand Besancenot, in Riyadh.
Held with the support of Besancenot and in the presence of Tjalling Smit, Air France KLM SVP, Middle East, Gulf and India, the reception was attended by corporate clients, and aviation and travel industry representatives.
Today, Air France-KLM, with JV partner Alitalia, is the “only Western airline group” to enjoy an extensive code share agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines (operating as Saudia), creating access to largest network of routes and destinations across Saudi Arabia, France and Europe. This follows a strengthening of the codeshare agreement (covering Paris-Riyadh and Paris-Jeddah) between Air France and Saudi Arabia in September 2013.
Air France now operates with Saudia eight weekly flights to and from King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh.
The airline serves Saudi Arabia with commercial, station and cargo services and has a team of 27 staff based in Riyadh.
Frederic Gossot, GM, Gulf Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan, Air France KLM, said: “Air France is very proud to be celebrating this long association with Saudi Arabia, extending to 30 years of continuous service.”
Air-France-KLM has marked several key milestones in the Gulf in 2013, including the 50th anniversary of services to Kuwait, 40th anniversary of services to Bahrain, 30th anniversary of services to Riyadh; and also the 80th anniversary of the foundation of Air France and 94th anniversary of the foundation of KLM.