Emirates, the award-winning international airline, has announced its plans to launch a new service to Al Madinah Al Munawwarah this summer, catering for increased demand during peak travel months.

The new temporary service from Al Madinah Al Munawwarah to Dubai will provide travelers with connections to popular destinations in Australia, the Far East, parts of Europe and the airlines four U.S gateways in New York (JFK), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO).

From July 2 to September 24, 2010, the twice weekly flight will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 in a three-class configuration comprising; 12 First Class seats, 42 Business Class seats and 183 Economy Class seats. The Emirates flight will depart Dubai each Friday and Sunday at 1:15 a.m, arriving in Al Madinah Al Munawwarah at 3:00 a.m. On the return journey, the flight will depart Al Madinah Al Munawwarah at 4:35 a.m., arriving in Dubai at 8:15 a.m.

Ahmed Khoory, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran said: “Emirates is delighted to be able to offer flights to Al Medinah al Munawarrah throughout the busy summer months. This new, limited time, service means that Emirates will have four gateways into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across the peak summer holiday, ensuring we are able to sufficiently service the thousands of people travelling to and from the country.

“We are confident that this service will benefit both those travelling overseas from Medina on their summer holiday, and also those visiting as part of their pilgrimage.”

The airline has remained committed to the Kingdom since operations first began in 1989, with flights to Jeddah. Since January 2009, Emirates has increased services to the country from 17 flights to 21 flights weekly. In February 2010, Emirates also launched the world acclaimed Airbus A380 aircraft onto the Jeddah route – the first commercial A380 into the country.

Emirates currently operates 21 weekly flights to Saudi Arabia from three gateways including; Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam