Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, is to increase its flying programme to Dublin, moving from its current daily service to 10 flights per week from March 28, 2010.
Etihad launched its Irish service in July 2007 with an initial four flights a week, increasing to six and then moving to a daily service in March 2008.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive officer, said: "Dublin has been one of our most successful ever destination launches, with more than 300,000 people flying on these services since launch and an average seat factor of 80 per cent. "We have steadily increased frequencies on the route in line with demand not only on the Dublin-Abu Dhabi route, but also via Abu Dhabi to and from our destinations in the Far East, such as Bangkok and Sydney. "The latest increase in our Irish flying is indicative of the huge confidence we have in this important market."
Supporting this increase in services, Etihad is planning a new lounge at Dublin airport, which is set to open in 2010.