Air France will begin operations from Paris to Abu Dhabi on 3 May.

The French national carrier will operate five flights a week between Paris Charles de Gaulle International airport and Abu Dhabi International airport, according to the airline, using an Airbus A330 on the route.

Abu Dhabi will be the seventh destination serviced by Air France in the Middle East. The other six are Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh.

The airline says it also plans to reduce the frequency of flights to Dubai from 14 a week to a one a day. Air France says it will introduce a new A380 aircraft on the Paris-Dubai route meaning that the number of seats offered on the route is not affected.