Last week, a seller asked why his Riyadh shipments were three days slower than Jeddah. Checked my data, this is way too common.
From Guangzhou, the split is clear. Air parcel to Jeddah is fastest — 4 to 5 days in hand. Riyadh usually runs 6 to 7 days because customs keeps a tight eye on VAT invoices. Dammam fluctuates a lot: 5 days when lucky, 8 when not.
My take: don't use one channel for the whole country. Light parcels go through Jeddah air. Heavy goods should go by sea to Dammam, then local trucking — Dammam and nearby cities get next-day delivery. For Riyadh, use a local warehouse to avoid clearance delays. A service like 8ship will split routes by city, so one shipment won't get stuck.
Also, August heat in Saudi can push 50°C, causing afternoon delays. Always give receivers some buffer time. Have you got burned by uneven delivery times too?