Factfile: The Gulf

FLIGHTS

EMIRATES: The airline operates 133 non-stop flights per week from the UK to Dubai – six services a day from Heathrow, four daily from Birmingham, three daily from London Gatwick and Manchester, two per day from Glasgow and a daily service from Newcastle. Emirates will add a daily service from London Stansted in June.

ETIHAD: Etihad Airways operates three daily flights from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi. The airline also flies twice daily from Manchester to its home hub and five times a week from Edinburgh to Abu Dhabi.

QATAR AIRWAYS: Qatar has seven flights a day from London Heathrow to Qatar. In addition, it flies twice-daily from Manchester to Doha (with three departures on Saturdays) and has a daily flight from Edinburgh. It is also due to launch daily flights from Cardiff this May.

DOZENS OF FLIGHTS TO THE MIDDLE EAST

OMAN AIR: The airline has two flights a day from London Heathrow to Muscat and a daily service from Manchester.

GULF AIR: The airline operates two non-stop services a day from London Heathrow to Bahrain.

SAUDIA: Saudia operates daily non-stop services from Heathrow to both Riyadh and Jeddah, and also operates from Manchester to Jeddah five times a week. BRITISH AIRWAYS: BA operates non-stop from London Heathrow to Dubai twice daily, Abu Dhabi daily, Doha daily, Muscat five times a week, Bahrain daily and both Riyadh and Jeddah six times a week.