Etihad Airways is introducing a third daily flight on the Abu Dhabi-Riyadh route, effective from the start of February.

The extra services underscore the airline’s commitment to offer guests greater choice and more travel options between the capital cities of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The new daily late night departures from both Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are timed to allow guests to spend full days in either city.

Arrivals into Abu Dhabi International Airport provide guests with more connections to early morning services to Europe, North America and the Indian Subcontinent.

These include London, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Delhi and Mumbai.

Together with a Boeing 777 and the recently-introduced Boeing 787 on the route, the new service will increase the number of weekly seats to 10,600 between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.

Codeshare partner flynas will continue to operate a daily flight on the route.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Aviation Group chief strategy and planning officer, said: “Our expanded services between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are in line with Etihad Airways’ strategy to offer more choice, greater frequency and additional travel options when aircraft availability and market conditions permit.

“The extra flights will cater to the strong demand between the two capital cities, and bring closer our global network to Riyadh over our Abu Dhabi hub.”

Etihad Airways launched scheduled flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with services to Riyadh in 2004, and has steadily grown capacity with additional frequencies and aircraft upgrades to its current double daily operation.

From February 1st, the airline will operate 70 return flights each week to and from four Saudi cities.

On the Riyadh route alone, Etihad Airways has flown more than 2.5 million guests since 2004.

Etihad Airways’ flights to Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Dammam are complemented by Saudi codeshare partner flynas, whose dedicated services between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam provide travellers with even more choice.