Emirates airline said it will operate three additional weekly flights to Egypt due to "increased frequencies between Cairo and Dubai," bringing the total number of flights to and from the Egyptian capital to 17 starting 3 September.

The three additional flights will be operated by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, a statement by the airline read.

In August, the Gulf airline resumed its Airbus A380 services to Cairo, with four weekly flights from Dubai. Cairo is currently the only destination on the airline’s network in Africa and the Middle East with both the B777 and A380 operating to and from Dubai.

“There are clear traffic flows between Cairo and Dubai, therefore the introduction of three additional flights a week makes commercial and business sense, and will also help support the revival of the country’s tourism industry as well as reopen more trade lanes in and out of Egypt,” Ibrahim Ghanim, Emirates airline’s country manager for Egypt and Libya, said.

He added that the “expansion of our [Emirates] schedule will offer better connectivity and will broaden travel options for business travellers and families who are looking to visit Dubai, or transit at Dubai International Airport, choosing to connect to any of our network destination.”

Emirates restarted passenger flights to Cairo and Tunis on 1 July, after Egypt began a gradual resumption of regular international flights with countries that have reopened their airports.

Foreign tourists in tour groups have been allowed entry into the three coastal Egyptian governorates with the lowest coronavirus infection rates in the country.

Egypt has required travellers arriving in the country to present a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) lab test result certificate for the coronavirus starting 1 September.

However, travelers entering Egypt at any of four airports in the Red Sea governorate and South Sinai can take a coronavirus test upon arrival.

Egypt halted all international flights on 19 March in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus. It has since only allowed its airports to open to domestic, freight and special repatriation flights.

Egypt hopes that the resumption of regular flights will boost its coronavirus-hit tourism sector, an essential source of foreign currency.