Air France celebrated its 30 years of services to Saudi Arabia with a commemorative flight to King Khalid International Airport which was greeted with a water-cannon salute.

The carrier also hosted a private VIP reception at the official residence of the French Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh.

The event, held under the patronage of Bertrand Besancenot, Ambassador of France to Saudi Arabia, was attended by Tjalling Smit, Air France -KLM senior vice president, Middle East, Gulf and India and several other senior officials.

Air France presently operates with Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) eight weekly flights to and from the Riyadh airport. It now plans to boost its flight schedule, to connect passengers to Paris and into the airline’s extensive global network, said a statement from the carrier.

Air France-KLM, with JV partner Alitalia, is the only Western airline group to operate under an extensive code share agreement with Saudia, creating access to largest network of routes and destinations across Saudi Arabia, France and Europe, it said.

This follows a strengthening of the code share agreement, covering Paris-Riyadh and Paris-Jeddah routes, between Air France and Saudia in September. - TradeArabia News Service