Saudia (Arabic: السعودية, romanized: as-Suʿūdiyyah), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية العربية السعودية, romanized: al-Ḫuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Suʿūdiyyah), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia based in Jeddah.

[5] Saudia operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 100 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

[6] When U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented a Douglas DC-3 as a gift to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1945, the event marked the kingdom's gradual development of civil aviation.

Among the airline's early operations was a special flight from Lydda (Lod) in Palestine (today in Israel, site of Ben-Gurion International Airport), a British Mandate at that time, to carry Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah.

DC-6s and Boeing 707s were later bought, and the airline joined the AACO, the Arab Air Carriers' Organization.

Services were started to Frankfurt, Geneva, Khartoum, London, Mumbai, Rabat, Sharjah, Tehran, Tripoli, and Tunis.

Flights were started to Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bangkok, Brussels, Colombo, Dakar, Delhi, Dhaka, Islamabad, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Madrid, Manila, Mogadishu, Nairobi, New York City, Nice, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei.

In the 1990s, services to Orlando, Chennai, Asmara, Washington, D.C., Johannesburg, Alexandria, Milan, Málaga (seasonal), and Sana'a (resumption) were introduced.

In preparation for this, the airline was restructured to allow non-core units—including Saudia catering, ground handling services and maintenance as well as the Prince Sultan Aviation Academy in Jeddah—to be transformed into commercial units and profit centers.

[13] In August 2007, Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers approved the conversion of strategic units into companies.

The airline also chose the CFM International LEAP engine to power its Airbus A321neos which are expected to be delivered in 2024.

[19] In April 2022, services began to Seoul, Beijing, Batumi, Mykonos, Barcelona, Málaga, Bangkok, Chicago, Moscow, Entebbe and Kyiv.

In July 2022, Saudia signed a contract with the Air Connectivity Programme to launch four new destinations to Zürich, Barcelona, Tunis and Kuala Lumpur.

[20] In January 2025, Saudia announced that the airline will be relocating its London to Neom route from Heathrow to Gatwick.

They are the official airline of Formula E, with one of their planes, a Boeing 777-300ER, painted in a special livery featuring an eagle head with the Spark SRT05e Gen2 car behind it.

[23][24] In November 2022, Newcastle United announced Saudia as the club’s official tour airline partner.

Since 2017, two mobile escalators (TEC Hünert MFT 500-01[56]) travel with the King and transported by separate aircraft.