ANA and Riyadh Air Sign a Deal to Link Japan and Saudi Arabia

All Nippon Airways and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Air signed a memorandum of understanding on August 18, 2026, to build codeshare, interline, and loyalty ties between Japan and Saudi Arabia. Neither carrier currently flies the other’s country nonstop.

The MoU points toward “convenient connectivity between Riyadh and Tokyo via key connecting points,” using Riyadh Air’s Riyadh hub and ANA’s dual Tokyo hub at Narita and Haneda. No specific routes or start dates are locked in yet.

What the two airlines actually agreed to

Riyadh Air chief executive Tony Douglas called it “a unique agreement” that “reflects Riyadh Air’s ambition to build meaningful global partnerships that expand choice and deliver long-term value to our guests.” ANA president Juichi Hirasawa said the deal is meant to make ANA “a bridge” connecting Japan with Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East.

The two airlines said benefits like codesharing, interline ticketing, and reciprocal loyalty recognition will be “gradually introduced” once approvals are in place. Neither side named a target date for the first codeshare flight.

Why a two-month-old airline is signing global deals

Riyadh Air flew its first commercial flight, Riyadh to London Heathrow, on June 10, 2026, using a Boeing 787-9. It has expanded fast since, adding Dubai, Cairo, Madrid, and Manchester within weeks, plus its first Southeast Asia route to Kuala Lumpur in early August.

The carrier is Saudi Arabia’s flagship bet under its Vision 2030 economic plan and has already placed large aircraft orders, including jets unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow. It is targeting more than 100 destinations by 2030, a scale a brand-new airline cannot reach on its own fleet alone.

Saudia already has a head start

Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia, is planning to launch its own Riyadh-Tokyo service later in 2026, ahead of either ANA or Riyadh Air actually flying the route. That gives the new MoU a competitive edge as much as a cooperative one.

For ANA, partnering with Riyadh Air is a way to reach Saudi Arabia and connecting points across the Middle East without deploying its own aircraft on unproven routes. For Riyadh Air, a Star Alliance partner brings Japanese connecting traffic it could not otherwise capture this early in its life.

Japan and Saudi Arabia have deepened economic ties in recent years, with Saudi Arabia positioning itself as an investment partner as Tokyo diversifies its Gulf relationships beyond long-standing oil contracts.

A direct air link, even one built through partner airlines rather than nonstop metal, gives travelers a reason to route through either hub instead of connecting via Europe or the wider Gulf.

That underlying demand is also why the timing matters. Riyadh Air is still building out its long-haul network case by case, and locking in a partner the size of ANA before Saudia’s own nonstop service launches gives it a foothold in the Japanese market regardless of who flies the route first.