Emirates airline plans to add a third daily flight between Dubai and Riyadh, as the world’s largest international carrier responds to rising demand from business and leisure travellers.
The third flight to Riyadh will start on December 15,taking the total number of weekly flights on the route to 21.
“There are clear traffic flows between Riyadh and Dubai, therefore boosting our services and increasing our capacity with a third flight makes business sense,” said Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, divisional senior vice president commercial operations, centre.
Year to date, about 450,000 passengers have travelled on the Dubai-Riyadh service, according to Emirates.
Saudi visitors to Dubai surpassed 1.5 million in 2014,according to a Deloitte report.
As a leisure destination, Dubai has become popular among Saudi travellers, as the city adds to its rapidly growing list of attractions and accommodation for travellers on varying budgets.
Saudi Arabia is the UAE’s largest trade partner in the region, which also feeds business traffic between the countries.
The new Dubai-Riyadh flight will be operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft in a combination of a three-class and two-class configuration, the airline said.
Emirates also flies between Dubai and Jeddah, Dammam and Medinah Al Munawarah in the kingdom. The airline currently operates 59 flights per week to Saudi Arabia, but that number will rise to 70 from next week, when the additional services to Riyadh and Jeddah are introduced.
Emirates, which has been extensively expanding its routes and frequencies, in November reported a 65 per cent jump in its first-half net profit. This reached Dh3.1 billion for the six months ending September 30, up from Dh1.9bn a year earlier, thanks to lower fuel prices and higher passenger demand.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
