Abu Dhabi, Nov 7 : Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will launch non-stop daily flights to Madina from next February.

Madina, the regional capital of the western Saudi Arabian province of Al-Madina al Munawarah, is the second holiest city in Islam after the holy city of Makkah.

"We are delighted to announce the introduction of Madinah to the Etihad Airways' global flight network,” James Hogan, Etihad Airways' president and chief executive officer, was quoted Thursday as saying.

“Saudi Arabia has always been a key market for Etihad Airways and Madina is, therefore, an important strategic destination for the airline,” he said, adding that the new flights cater to “the Saudi Arabian population living in the UAE, as well as to the growing numbers of business and religious travellers looking to fly to the city”.

The new service to Madina will be Etihad Airways' ninth destination in the Arabian peninsula, joining Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, Muscat, and Sana.(IANS)