bmi is to launch flights to Dammam in Saudi Arabia.The new Dammam service, set to begin in early 2008, will operate three times a week on a wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft and is expected to build on the success of flights to bmi’s existing Saudi destinations - Riyadh, which launched in September 2005, and Jeddah in April 2006.

The news comes at the end of a week when bmi introduced 17 new routes, the largest ever expansion of its route network.

“This is one of the most exciting periods in bmi’s 70 year history,” said Nigel Turner. “We have just introduced 17 new destinations from Heathrow at the start of the winter timetable including a daily non-stop service to Cairo. 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.”

In the past week bmi has launched services to: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Aleppo, Syria; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Amman, Jordan; Ankara, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; Beirut, Lebanon; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Damascus, Syria; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Khartoum, Sudan; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tehran, Iran; Yerevan, Armenia.
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