Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will increase its Abu Dhabi - Dublin service to double-daily from July.
The frequency boost of 40% will provide 8,988 seats each week between the capital cities of the UAE and Ireland.
Etihad currently operates 10 flights a week but will change to twice daily from July 15. The airline will operate a Boeing 777-300 and an Airbus A330-220 on the route.
The airline said the schedule for the double-daily flights will ensure connectivity both ways with 800 weekly connections to 45 destinations in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Etihad Airways’ president and CEO, James Hogan, said: “From the moment we started flights to Dublin in July 2007 it has been one of our most successful routes.
“The 40% increase in flight frequency will benefit business and leisure travel not only between Ireland and the UAE, but also right across the Etihad Airways network,” Hogan added.
Ireland’s minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar said the announcement is “great news” for tourism and Irish aviation. “This represents another significant capacity boost at Dublin Airport this year,” said Varadkar.
“Overall, there is a huge increase in airline capacity into Ireland this year, which will help us to continue growing visitor numbers.”
Since launching flights to Dublin in 2007 Etihad Airways has flown almost 1.2 million passengers on the route. Etihad said 2013 was its busiest year to date with more than 240,000 passengers flying on the route.