As in so many cases, the pandemic saw a number of routings being pulled or put on ice. One of those was the almost daily cargo connection offered by IAG Cargo between London Heathrow (LHR) and Jeddah King Abdulaziz International (JED). This will now soon resume. From 02NOV24 onwards, the cargo subsidiary of the IAG Group will operate six flights per week, deploying a widebody Boeing 787 on the route. It already serves Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh King Khalid International Airport (RUH) ten times per week out of LHR. Thus, a solid and attractive cargo capacity offer is in place between the UK and Saudi Arabia, supporting international trade between the two countries. The press release quotes GBP 17.6 billion as the sum of exports and imports between the UK and Saudi alone in the first quarter of this year.
Camilo Garcia Cervera, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at IAG Cargo, explained: “In the first quarter of 2024, trade in goods and services between the UK and Saudi Arabia totaled GBP 17.6 billion. The resumption of the Jeddah service – which has been paused since the Covid-19 pandemic – and the additional capacity to Saudi Arabia, is therefore timely and will ensure additional choice and flexibility for our customers. Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport is a vital air cargo hub for trade between the East and West and has plans to double its cargo handling capacity. We are very happy to announce the return of Jeddah to our expansive network which spans six continents.”