Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is to incraese its services between the emirate and London Heathrow. The airline, which launched services on the route in March 2004, will now operate on the route three times a day.

The airline said that it had carried more than 300,000 passengers from the UK in the past year. It also operates a once-a-day service from Manchester to Abu Dhabi.

The carrier is believed to have paid Luxembourg’s Lux Air £9m for the slots necessary to launch the service. Slots at the London airport are at a premium because of the “open skies” liberalisation of air services between Europe and the United States.

Bmi, which holds between 11 and 12% of the slots at the airport, recently valued its holding at £770m.