Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is celebrating 15 years since it first launched flights to Ireland, connecting the country with Abu Dhabi and onwards to destinations worldwide.
Etihad launched daily flights between the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and Dublin, Ireland on 2 July 2007. While flight schedules changed over the following years, Etihad has increased its flight schedule from Dublin from five to seven flights a week from July 2022.
Tony Douglas, group chief executive officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Since we began flying to Dublin, Etihad has always strongly supported the Irish market. We have been very proud to have won numerous awards along the way including the Irish Travel Trade Award for ‘Best International Airline’.”
To commemorate the occasion, Etihad hosted an event at InterContinental Dublin for Irish media. An exciting traditional Irish step dancing performed by the famous Cairde took place as part of the evening’s entertainment. The event was led by Etihad’s SVP global sales and cargo, Martin Drew. Also in attendance was Mohammed Hmood Al Shamsi, Chargés d’Affaires, UAE, who also gave a speech to the invited guests.
Etihad Cargo, the airline’s freighter division, has a strong presence within the Irish market and, over the years, has handled the distribution of Irish food products, including fish and shellfish, to Asia and the Middle East. Ireland is also renowned for its equestrian industry and Etihad recently operated a full charter from Ireland to China via Abu Dhabi, using Etihad Cargo’s premium product SkyStables. The freighter contained 75 horses with 25 stalls, covering almost the entire main deck.
“Etihad has been a key provider of critical air cargo capacity throughout the pandemic. We started flying into Ireland soon after the international Covid lockdowns in April 2020 and in particular supported with the cargo of adequate supplies of PPE. We continued to provide key international connectivity from Ireland over the last two years and look forward to many prosperous years operating to this stunning and culturally rich destination,” added Douglas.
