Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific on Thursday announced that it will resume direct passenger flights between Hong Kong and the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, from October 28.

The airline has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, which comes under Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Cathay Pacific’s CEO Ronald Lam said the new flights will help business and tourism prosper in both places.

“Riyadh is a very vibrant city. It is the capital and financial centre of Saudi Arabia. By having direct flights between Hong Kong and Riyadh, we will be contributing to the prosperity of business, trade and tourism between China and Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The programme's CEO, Majid Khan, said the launch of the direct flights will bring more tourists to both places.

“Hong Kong is one of the key markets in terms of tourism and trade from both sides. So we believe Cathay, we're going to grow the point-to-point traffic from both sides between Hong Kong and Riyadh and vice versa, but also the traffic to domestic Saudi Arabia and to the network beyond Hong Kong, where Cathay has a vast network,” he said.

Cathay axed a previous service to Riyadh in 2017.