Bmi to increase Saudi flights

Bmi says it will step up its flights to Saudi Arabia, following an agreement between the UK and Saudi governments.

The carrier currently serves Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh four-times weekly, all from London Heathrow, but under the new agreement it will be able to increase the number of weekly flights to 35. This could equate to as much as twice-daily to two of the routes, and daily to the remaining one.

Commenting on the agreement CEO Nigel Turner said: “We have committed significant investment in developing our sales and marketing and operational presence in Saudi Arabia and the ability to increase our services presents us with an ideal opportunity.

“Our route network to the region was further enhanced last October when we commenced services from Heathrow to a wide range of destinations throughout the Middle East and beyond. Bmi now has a major presence in this part of the world with considerable  experience and knowledge of serving these markets. We expect to be able to make an announcement shortly about improvements we will now be able to make to our schedules to Saudi Arabia from Heathrow.”