Emirates will increase services to Al Medinah al Munawarah to seven flights per week from 31st October 2010, underscoring the important economic and cultural ties between the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The airline remains committed to the Kingdom with a total of 25 flights already operating per week through its four gateways. These three new services will bring the number to 28 flights per week, as well as increasing additional capacity to the Kingdom by 15 per cent. "Saudi Arabia is an important market for Emirates and our new daily service to Al Medinah al Munawarah is key to our continued growth there," said Ahmed Khoory, Emirates' Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran. In the last two years we have increased operations to the Kingdom from 17 to 25 weekly flights and we will continue to work closely with the Saudi authorities to implement additional services. "This daily service will offer our customers in the Kingdom with even more choice, helping to connect both business and leisure travellers not only to Dubai, but also our extensive worldwide network. There is significant demand for travel in and out of Al Medinah al Munawarah from across our network and we are confident that these new flights will be well received by our customers." Emirates' first flight to Al Medinah al Munawarah landed on July 2nd 2010. The service remains on a temporary schedule until 26th March 2011. From 31st October the seven weekly flights to Al Medinah al Munawarah will depart Dubai each day at 0115 hours and will arrive in Al Medinah al Munawarah at 0315 hours. On the return journey the flight will depart Al Medinah al Munawarrah at 0445 hours, arriving in Dubai at 0815 hours. Emirates' currently has four scheduled flights to the city departing on a Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The service is operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, offering 12 seats in First class, 42 seats in Business Class and 183 seats in Economy. For Indonesians, the Medinah service reflects the continued bilateral growth between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. As the country received a larger quota for the Hajj pilgrimage and thousands of umrah travellers on yearly basis, the new service will also support this religious tourism as well as increase trade ties between Indoensia and Saudi Arabia by facilitating the smooth movement of travellers and cargo. In addition to Indonesians, who will have additional options for passenger flights to and from Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage (or umrah), Indonesian businesses and exporters will also have new options in doing business. This includes exporting goods, including garments, household supplies and much more. Mohammed Al Nahari, Emirates' Country Manager for Indonesia, said: "We believe that this service will help foster a closer bilateral growth between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, while boosting the business and leisure travel traffic between the two countries. We are confident that the additional flights will cater to the growing demand of our business and leisure customers travelling to and from Jakarta and Medinah year-to-year." Indonesia is gaining popularity as one of favourite leisure destinations for Saudi Arabian tourists as indicated by the increase in the number Saudi Arabian tourists to Indonesia from year to year. In June 2010, the number of Saudi Arabian tourists increased by 37.45 per cent compared to same period last year. As part of its commitment to serve the country's growing demand for air travel services, Emirates continued to enhance its products in the air and on the ground including its award-winning in-flight entertainment ice and a generous baggage allowance of 30kg for Economy Class passengers, 40kg for Business Class and 50kg for First Class. Emirates is currently offering promotional fares for Indonesian passengers to 55 destinations within the Emirates network in five continents for Economy and Business Class tickets purchased between August 15 and September 30, 2010. Outbound travel must be completed between September 15 – December 15, 2010. The airline also offers a further 3 percent discount for Indonesian passengers who book online through www.emirates.com.(emirates)