Dubai-based Emirates Airline will add a fourth daily flight to Riyadh starting on 1 September in response to strong passenger flows between Riyadh and Dubai.

A three-class Boeing 777-300ER will be used for the additional flight. EK813 will depart Dubai at 3.00pm and arrive in Riyadh at 3.50pm. The return flight, EK814, will depart Riyadh at 5.50pm and will arrive in Dubai at 8.40pm, Emirates said in a statement.

The late afternoon departure has been chosen to complement Emirate’s existing morning and evening flights to Riyadh.

More than 1.5 million Saudi citizens visited Dubai in 2017, according to the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing Department.

In addition to Riyadh, Emirates also operates flights to other Saudi cities including Jeddah, Dammam and Medina.