Saudia Cargo, the cargo division of Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national carrier of Saudi Arabia, has officially launched a new cargo route connecting its Riyadh King Khalid hub to Avalon Airport in the state of Victoria, Australia. The inaugural flight carried a mixed cargo shipment consisting of fresh lamb from Victoria and agricultural equipment.
This new route comes amid strong demand from Australian exporters, who face increasingly urgent logistical needs to transport their goods to Saudi Arabia and, more broadly, to all Middle Eastern markets. According to Saudia Cargo officials, the sectors most affected by this service include, in particular:
– Agricultural and agri-food products, such as the shipment of lamb from Victoria carried on this inaugural flight;
– Pharmaceutical products, the transport of which requires strict temperature-controlled and traceability standards;
– High-tech manufactured goods (high-tech products, industrial components, specialized equipment);
– E-commerce goods, a rapidly expanding sector between Australia and the Gulf region.
Avalon Airport CEO Ari Suss hailed the launch of this route as an important milestone for the airport and for exporters in the state of Victoria:
“This partnership creates more opportunities for exporters seeking faster access to Saudi Arabia and the entire Gulf region.”
This statement underscores Avalon’s ambition to strengthen its role as a logistics hub dedicated to cargo, in addition to its passenger operations, and to capture a growing share of trade flows between Australia and the Middle East.
For Saudia Cargo, this new route is part of a broader strategy to expand the company’s cargo network, as it seeks to consolidate its presence on routes connecting the Asia-Pacific region to the Middle East and Africa, using its Jeddah hub as a distribution point for the entire region.
For exporters in the state of Victoria, the launch of a direct route from Avalon offers a tangible logistical advantage: shorter transit times, simplified customs procedures, and easier access to a rapidly growing market. This new route could thus encourage more local businesses to turn to Gulf markets, which have so far been less tapped than traditional Asian markets.