From Virgin Atlantic touching down in Riyadh to the Oman Air's upcoming London connection, here's a quick overview of seat capacity increase between the UK and the Middle East in the recent and coming months.
British Airways: BA has improved connectivity between Saudi Arabia and the UK by increasing its Riyadh to London Heathrow service from seven to 13 flights per week for the summer season. British Airways customers have been benefitting from nearly double the number of flights, with more than 80,000 additional seats versus last year. Emirates: Emirates will be introducing its newest Airbus A380s fitted with its latest cabins, including Premium Economy to Manchester from June 6. With the introduction of Emirates' newly retrofitted A380 to Manchester, the airline will expand its Premium Economy offering to nearly 5,000 weekly seats in and out of the UK. The enhanced service to Manchester complements the four daily retrofitted A380s currently serving the Dubai-London Heathrow route, the Emirates A350 operating to Edinburgh, and the refurbished Boeing 777 to London Stansted from May. Oman Air: Oman Air has announced the return of its double-daily flights between Muscat and London, starting October 26, this year. The second flight will initially be added on four days of the week, by summer 2026, the airline will be operating 14 return flights per week from Muscat to London. The service will be operated by the latest generation B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft featuring Oman Air’s signature three-cabin configuration: Business Studio, Business Class and Economy Class. Gulf Air: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, recently celebrated the inaugural flight of its new direct route from Bahrain International Airport to London Gatwick Airport with special events held at both airports. Gulf Air’s launch of services to London Gatwick marks its second destination in the UK capital. Virgin Atlantic: Virgin Atlantic has touched down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking its first-ever flight into the country. The airline now operates daily services from London Heathrow to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, using its newest aircraft, the A330neo, which features a redesigned Upper-Class cabin and the debut of the 'Retreat Suite.’