Etihad Airways has announced an increase in capacity on its Abu Dhabi to Dublin route deploying a Boeing 777-300ER on the route six times weekly from 2nd July 2013, increasing capacity on the route by 34%.

The Boeing 777-300ER is configured to carry 412 passengers, with 28 seats in Pearl Business Class and 384 in Coral Economy Class operating EY045/2 six times weekly.

The increase will provide an additional 900 seats each week compared to the current schedule, with an extra 36 in the award winning Pearl Business class and 864 in Coral Economy. An Airbus A330-200 will continue to operate on the four remaining flights.

The increase in capacity is a reflection of the strong demand from Irish customers for the route to Abu Dhabi and allows travellers to connect with Etihad Airways global network with Australia, Thailand and India as some of the most popular onward destinations.

Etihad Airways President and CEO James Hogan said “Dublin is one of our most successful routes and this increase in capacity is indicative of the confidence we have that demand, especially in the premium cabin, will continue to grow.

Etihad Airways carried more than 215,000 passengers between Abu Dhabi and Dublin in 2012, with the route once again in the airline’s top 10 most popular.

Ireland is an important market and country for Etihad Airways and this can be seen in our investments which include our line maintenance facility at Dublin Airport, the opening of a premium lounge at Terminal 2 in 2011, as well as cultural partnerships with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), the GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, and The Gathering Ireland 2013.”

The airline is involved with a number of activities during The Gathering Ireland 2013, which includes bringing teams from the Arabian Gulf, Asia and Australia to Ireland in September to take part in the International Hurling Festival.

Etihad Airways launched its services to Ireland in July 2007 with an initial four flights per week, increasing to six and then moving to a daily service in March 2008. This was further increased to the current service of 10 flights per week in March 2010 operating from Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport.

Irish Aviation Research Institute © 22nd January 2013 All Rights Reserved.