More Middle Eastern flights from Heathrow

Heathrow Airport will be the base for more flights to the Middle East in 2008 after bmi announced that it will offer new services to Saudi Arabia next year.

The carrier, which is the second largest operator out of Heathrow, will begin flying from London to Dammam three times a week in early 2008.

This will build on bmi's existing services to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and the city of Jeddah, which launched in September 2005 and April 2006 respectively.

Some 17 new routes have been introduced by bmi in the last week in the largest ever single expansion of its route network.

Chief executive Nigel Turner said that the airline is currently going through one of the most exciting periods in its history.

"We have just introduced 17 new destinations from Heathrow at the start of the winter timetable including a daily non-stop service to Cairo," he added.

"We are also delighted to be announcing further developments which are marking our transition into a truly global airline. Next year bmi will be serving 41 destinations from London Heathrow."