IAG Cargo is hoping economic growth in Bahrain and the Qatar 2022 football world cup project will help fill a double-digit expansion of capacity on its Middle East services.

The airline has announced that from winter 2016, it will separate its current Abu Dhabi and Muscat service into two flights and will also split its Bahrain and Doha service.

Flights to Muscat will operate five times a week, while services to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Doha will operate on a daily basis and the move will result in an 83% increase in capacity for the region.

IAG Cargo  head of sales Camilo Garcia said: “With Bahrain making significant efforts to diversify its economy, and Doha benefitting from investments ahead of the 2022 football world cup, this network expansion comes at a time of growing demand into and out of Middle Eastern markets.

“The additional capacity to Bahrain, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Muscat will be welcomed by our customers, offering them greater opportunity and flexibility to connect to over 350 destinations across our network.”

The next generation Boeing 787-9 will serve the Abu Dhabi route offering an air conditioning system that maintains a regular hold temperature to within one degree’s accuracy.

A B777-200 will serve the Bahrain, Doha and Muscat routes, offering customers a cargo payload of up to 20 tonnes per flight.