Emirates will boost its services to Riyadh with the addition of a third daily flight to the Saudi capital from Dec. 15. The addition of the third daily service will take the total number of weekly Emirates flights serving Riyadh to 21.

Sheikh Majid Al-Mualla, divisional SVP commercial operations, said: “Emirates’ expanded schedule to Riyadh will offer more seamless connections for our customers but most importantly will broaden travel options for business travelers and families alike that are looking to visit Dubai. There are clear traffic flows between Riyadh and Dubai therefore boosting our services and increasing our capacity with a third flight makes business sense.”

So far this year, over 450,000 passengers have traveled on the Dubai-Riyadh service.

In 2014, Saudi Arabian visitors to Dubai topped more than 1.5 million, according to a Deloitte Quarterly Middle East Hotel Market Insight Report.

Dubai continues to be an attractive destination for Saudi visitors, offering them both luxury and value with an extensive array of leisure and family activities to suit every taste, in addition to hotels for all budgets.

As a business hub, Dubai has become a springboard to emerging eastbound markets and Africa and is an ideal destination for doing business.

Saudi Arabia is the UAE’s largest trading partner in the region, with nonoil trade reaching an estimated AED 256 billion in the first quarter of 2014, according to Saudi Arabian Federal Customs Authority data.

The third flight will be serviced by the A330-200 in a combination of a three-class and two-class configuration.

Along with Riyadh, Emirates operates to Madinah, Jeddah and Dammam. Emirates currently serves Saudi Arabia with 59 flights a week. This will increase to 70 flights a week from Dec. 15, with the additional services to Jeddah and Riyadh.