RIYADH: A direct air-freight corridor between Australia and Saudi Arabia has officially launched, giving exporters unprecedented access to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and cementing a new chapter in the relationship between two G20 nations.
The inaugural Saudia Cargo flight, a Boeing 747-400 freighter, touched down at Melbourne’s Avalon Airport on July 25, arriving via Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur before returning to the Middle East later that day loaded with Victorian lamb and farming equipment.
The service began scheduled operations just 46 days after Avalon Airport and the Australia Saudi Logistics Alliance signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a turnaround Avalon’s CEO Ari Suss described as marking the airport’s transformation into a major international aviation, logistics and trade gateway.
Ending a long-standing bottleneck
For Sam Jamsheedi, president of the Australian Saudi Business Chamber and a representative of the Australia Saudi Logistics Alliance, the significance of the new route goes well beyond simply having another flight.
In an interview with Arab News he said it “fundamentally changes the economics and reliability of trade between the two countries.”
One of the biggest barriers to exporting is uncertainty, Jamsheedi noted, explaining that a scheduled cargo service provides guaranteed freight capacity, regular departure times, predictable delivery schedules and greater confidence when signing long-term supply agreements.
Certainty, he said, is “often more valuable than marginal freight cost savings.”
Jamsheedi added that Saudi Arabia, as the largest economy in the Middle East and an increasing logistics hub connecting Europe, Africa and Asia, allows Australian exporters to treat the Kingdom not as a final destination but as a gateway to the wider Gulf Cooperation Council, North Africa and parts of Europe.
That reliability gap is one Australian expat Sharn Jaye, who lives and works in Riyadh, has felt directly. She said a shipment of personal belongings sent by sea freight took almost eight months to arrive, delayed further by disruption to global shipping routes.
“Even once it arrived, the process of tracking it, clearing customs, and arranging delivery felt slower and more complicated than it probably needed to be,” she told Arab News.
Jaye noted some Australian products still don’t ship to Saudi Arabia, or shipping costs make it impractical, though she said the local product range is “growing rapidly” and online orders now often arrive faster than expected.
A catalyst for investment
Jamsheedi said the corridor’s impact extends beyond logistics into investment confidence.
“Investment follows connectivity,” he said. “When investors see a permanent logistics link between two markets, they know trade can scale, supply chains are more resilient, and businesses have greater certainty.”
He pointed to likely growth in Saudi investment into Australian advanced manufacturing, healthcare, renewable energy, technology, artificial intelligence and data infrastructure, while noting the relationship works both ways, with Australian firms increasingly investing in Saudi Vision 2030 projects across construction, engineering, education and mining services.
Where the opportunities lie
Asked which sectors offer the strongest near-term opportunity, Jamsheedi named mining and critical minerals as “arguably Australia’s strongest strategic opportunity,” citing Saudi Arabia’s investment of “hundreds of billions of dollars” to become a global minerals-processing hub.
He said Australian firms can participate across the entire value chain, from exploration and equipment through to processing and workforce training. Jamsheedi also highlighted food security and agribusiness, noting the new cargo route strengthens the ability to export fresh beef, lamb, seafood, and dairy products.
Healthcare and life sciences are another priority, given the Kingdom’s hospital and digital health expansion, alongside advanced manufacturing as Saudi Arabia works to localize industrial capability.
That is already visible on the ground, according to Anthony Bishop, president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Sydney-headquartered medical device firm Cochlear.
“Saudi Arabia represents an important and growing market for Cochlear, reflecting our long-standing commitment to improving hearing healthcare across the Middle East,” he told Arab News.
Cochlear established its regional headquarters, Cochlear Arabia, in Riyadh in 2023, and has since signed a series of agreements with Saudi health authorities, including a Memorandum of Understanding with medical equipment supplier NUPCO during the Saudi Minister of Health’s official visit to Sydney in August 2025, followed by two further MoUs with the Ministry of Health in October.
Bishop said the company is also expanding remote care support to widen patient access across the Kingdom’s diverse geography, and backing clinical research to strengthen the evidence base for cochlear implant outcomes.
Companies already on the ground
Australian Saudi Business Chamber President Jamsheedi pointed to a growing number of Australian companies operating in or expanding into Saudi Arabia as evidence of the opportunity’s scale.
These include mining services firms Perenti and Byrnecut, and engineering group Worley. Architecture practice Woods Bagot has a dedicated Riyadh office, while workspace provider Servcorp continues to grow its presence in the Kingdom.
On the healthcare side, Aspen Medical and Cochlear are both active in the market, alongside food and hospitality brands Toby’s Estate and Sushi Sushi. Cochlear, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, has helped more than 800,000 people hear across more than 180 countries, and views its Saudi operations as central to that mission.
Cochlear’s Bishop said the partnerships taking shape “represent more than bilateral agreements — they embody a shared vision for accessible, high-quality hearing healthcare that empowers individuals and strengthens communities across the Kingdom and the broader Middle East region.”
Breaking into the market
Jaye, who works in events and resident experience in Riyadh, said entering the Saudi market as an Australian professional was “much harder than I expected,” despite arriving with multiple degrees and nearly a decade of experience.
“What surprised me most was how important relationships and personal connections are,” she said, describing opportunities that came through introductions and trust-building rather than online applications alone.
A shared foundation
Jamsheedi said what surprises most Australians is the scale of ambition behind Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification, and how much the two G20, resource-rich economies actually have in common, with more than 11,000 Australians now living and working across the Kingdom’s mining, healthcare, education, engineering and technology sectors.
Jaye offered a similar view from the ground, adding: “The cafe culture feels a lot like Melbourne, the diverse food scene reminds me of Sydney, and the strong focus on family and community takes me back to growing up in Canberra.”
