bmi has announced it intends to increase flights between Heathrow airport and Saudi Arabia.

The announcement comes after an agreement was reached between the Saudi and UK governments to increase the permitted number of flights between the two countries to 35.

bmi plans to take full advantage of this agreement and add extra services to its Heathrow flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

Nigel Turner, chief executive officer of bmi, said: “We congratulate the UK and Saudi Arabian governments in creating a more open market between the two countries and we are well placed and eager to take full advantage of the agreement.

“bmi has amassed a considerable amount of experience and expertise since we took over services from Heathrow to the Kingdom when they were abandoned by British Airways in 2005. 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.”