Overview
- Qatar Airways will start thrice-weekly Doha–Hail flights on 5 January 2026, operating Monday, Thursday and Saturday as QR1228/QR1229 with published timings.
- Services to Jeddah and Riyadh on Qatar Airways increase from six to seven daily flights, taking its Saudi network to 13 destinations and more than 150 weekly frequencies.
- The Hail route feeds over 170 global connections via Hamad International Airport, with Qatar citing nearly 2.5 million Saudi passenger connections over the past 12 months.
- Etihad has launched Abu Dhabi–Medina service at five weekly flights on Airbus A321 aircraft, with an increase to six weekly flights planned later this year.
- Qatar detailed the Saudi expansion on 11 November at the TOURISE Global Tourism Summit in Riyadh, presenting it as a sustained commitment to the Kingdom’s connectivity goals.