Etihad Airways has announced plans to launch non-stop daily flights to Madinah, the second holiest city in Islam after Makkah.
With the addition of the new service, which will start on February 1 2014, Etihad Airways will offer 50 weekly flights to four destinations in Saudi Arabia, also including Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Flights between Abu Dhabi and Madinah will be operated by an A320 aircraft, offering a total 1,904 seats per week, the carrier said in a statement.
The new services are set to meet growing demand from religious Hajj and Umrah travellers wishing to visit the Holy city which is the home of Prophet Mohammed’s Mosque and burial site.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ president and CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce the introduction of Madinah to the Etihad Airways global flight network.
“Saudi Arabia has always been a key market for Etihad Airways and Medina is therefore an important strategic destination for the airline.
“Our new flights will cater to the Saudi Arabian population living in the UAE, as well as to the growing numbers of business and religious travellers looking to fly to the city.
“The demand for the Umrah flights has always been very strong and with plans for the expansion of the Prophet Mohammed Mosque underway, we expect this demand to continue to grow in the future,” Hogan added.
The new service to Madinah will be Etihad Airways ‘ ninth destination in the Arabian Peninsula, joining Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Muscat, and Sana’a.
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