Direct flights to Islamabad in Pakistan from Leeds-Bradford Airport are set to increase to three times a week due to demand from Yorkshire's Pakistani community.

A third flight is being added to the schedule only weeks after the launch of the new service earlier this month.

The extra non-stop service using wide-bodied A310 aircraft will take off from March 7.

And, there is also a possibility that the operators, Shaheen Air International, could be due to announce another direct route from Yorkshire to Lahore.

The airline has been so encouraged by demand for the Islamabad service that it is hoping to introduce the second destination.

Wahid Farid, Bradford district manager of Abibel Travel in Manningham Lane, which is the sole representative of Shaheen Air, said the Lahore flights would be part of the airline's continued expansion of routes throughout 2008.

Plans are in hand to introduce flights from Luton, Manchester, Stansted, Birmingham and Glasgow to various destinations including Karachi, Faislabad and Lahore by the end of the year.

Mr Farid said that more passengers than expected had travelled on the Islamabad flights from Leeds-Bradford.

He said: "February is usually quiet and we would have expected the aircraft to be half full at best. But the flights have been three-quarters or nearly full and well ahead of expectations."