Saudia, Emirates, Qatar Airways to run new flights from West Midlands from July ‘With 35m people within 2 hours’ train journey or drive we are UK’s best-connected airport’: CEO LONDON: Birmingham Airport is set to launch three new services between the UK and the Gulf starting from next month including, for the first time, direct flights to Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s national carrier Saudia will begin running services from the West Midlands to Jeddah from July, as Birmingham bids to offer alternative options for passengers away from London’s main airports in the south of the UK and Manchester to the north. Emirates’ Airbus A380 superjumbo flights to Dubai will begin from the first week of July, alongside regular flights to Doha run by Qatar Airways, which are returning to the airport following their suspension as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant amount of interest in the new routes is expected, with Birmingham home to large communities of people of Indian and Pakistani heritage, and the Gulf providing a key connection hub between Europe and Asia. “In Birmingham and the West Midlands, Emirates, Qatar and Saudia see what many other global brands see, with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Accenture and HSBC who have recently established headquarters in Birmingham,” said the airport’s CEO Nick Burton. “This is a region home to 6 million people and with 35 million people within two hours’ train journey or drive we are the UK’s best-connected airport. “The West Midlands is an economy the size of Hungary’s and on a strong trajectory of growth.”