ITTN’s Katie Doyle attended a festive Christmas dinner last night with Etihad Airways in the beautiful Anantara the Marker Hotel in the Grand Canal Docks.
Travel agents and representatives enjoyed a wonderful evening learning more about the expansion of Etihad in the Irish market and just how committed Abu Dhabi is in becoming a prime destination in the Middle-East.
Reflecting on the year to date, Jason Kearns, Etihad Account Manager for Ireland, thanked Ireland’s travel agencies in their continued bookings of the airline for corporate and leisure customers across Ireland and the UK, highlighting Abu-Dhabi not just as an accessible connection to Asia and further east, but as a growing destination for tourists in 2025.
For theme park enthusiasts, there’s Ferrari World and Warner Bros World on Yas Island, offering a range of high-speed rollercoasters to family attractions; alongside the anticipated opening of Disney Abu Dhabi in the next five years which will bring even more excitement to the UAE capital. The city is also committed to a growing number of museums and experiences for a range of interests, from the Louvre Abu Dhabi to the planned Guggenheim; the Emirates Auto museum to the historic Qasr Al Hosn.
With the city’s Tourism Strategy 2030, the luxury, beachfront, city-centre and desert resorts continue to grow with a range of brand expansions to attract tens of millions of high-end consumers for culinary and luxury travel in the next five years. Etihad offers Irish travellers a gateway not just to the Middle East but also worldwide destinations- recently announcing a network expansion with the launch of new services to Tunis, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong and Medina, supporting continued passenger growth and inbound travel to Abu Dhabi.
In November of this year, Etihad Airways also underlined its commitment to Ireland by confirming it will increase frequency on its popular Dublin to Abu Dhabi route to a double-daily service from the start of April 2026 with their Dreamliner and 777 aircrafts. The airline carried 2.1 million passengers in November of this year, achieving a 28% year-on-year increase, and marking a new peak in the airline’s traffic for 2025. By the end of last month, Etihad’s fleet reached 124 aircraft, up from 98 aircraft in November 2024, with an additional four A321LRs joining the fleet in November. The remarkable fleet expansion reflects the airline’s ambitious growth trajectory and ongoing investment!
Over delicious food and wine in Anantara’s Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins, agents and trade celebrated all that Etihad offers and all the new opportunities coming their way in 2026. Enjoying a winter game terrine and tuna crudo for starters, John Stone strip steak and roast stone bass for mains finished by a ginger cake or a festive Christmas puddings to end the night!
