Emirates will add a third daily flight out of London Gatwick to Dubai after agreeing to cap ticket sales from over-crowded London Heathrow until mid-August.

The extra daily flight will operate from London Gatwick from 27 July to 3 August.

Emirates said the third flight will ‘help serve high demand from customers travelling to and from London this summer’.

The airline added: “It will also provide additional seats to accommodate Emirates’ passengers affected by capacity adjustments on flights from London Heathrow, which will be made to help ease operational pressures at the airport.

“Emirates’ customers impacted by capacity adjustments at London Heathrow will be contacted directly by the airline or their travel agent. The airline is working closely with its travel partners to re-accommodate any impacted bookings and ensure smooth onward flight connections for customers to reach their planned destination.”

Emirates had initially refused to comply with Heathrow’s request to all airlines to reduce capacity, but later agreed not to sell any more seats until mid-August.

The additional daily flight to London Gatwick will be operated by Boeing 777 aircraft offering seats in First, Business and Economy class.

Flights EK011 and EK012 will operate to and out of London Gatwick in the morning.

“Emirates is grateful for the support of London Gatwick Airport, along other partners on the ground who have been working closely with the airline to secure sufficient ground handling resources to deal with the additional demand, and provide passengers with a smooth and reliable journey,” it said in a statement.

The airline will continue to operate six daily flights to and from Heathrow during this period. It plans to re-start five flights a week between Dubai and London Stansted on 1 August, with daily services starting in September.