LONDON: British Airways has launched the first ever direct flight from Dammam to London Heathrow. The carrier has already started selling tickets priced from SR2,480 ($660) for the new route which will start Dec. 1, 2019. Flights will be operated by a four-class Boeing 777-200 departing year-round from Dammam’s King Fahd International Airport and landing in Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, British Airways said in a statement on Tuesday. Dammam will become the third route the airline flies to in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. “This new link between Dammam and London underlines the importance of the Eastern province and the need for smooth onward connections to Europe and the United States, said Moran Birger, BA head of sales for the Middle East and Asia Pacific. It will cut journey times between the two airports by three hours or more because passengers will no longer need to either drive to Bahrain or transit through Riyadh for a connecting flight, the airline said.