Etihad Airways has achieved an 81 per cent load factor on its flights from Abu Dhabi to Dublin since launching the service on July 2nd.

This makes the route its third-best performer, behind flights to Toronto at 86 per cent and London at 82 per cent. But the Dublin route was ahead of flights to New York and Sydney. The airline had an average load factor of 75 per cent across its 45 destinations in June, July and August.

It is understood that Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), carried just over 22,000 passengers on its Dublin route in the 17 weeks to the end of October. It said 90 per cent of its economy seats were filled on the route.

Seventy per cent of passengers that fly to Abu Dhabi are using it to connect with Etihad flights to Asia, South Africa and Australia. A number are also using it as a base for Dubai, which is less than an hour's drive from Abu Dhabi.

News of Etihad's success on its Dublin to Abu Dhabi route comes just a week after Aer Lingus confirmed plans to axe Dubai from its summer schedule in 2008.

Aer Lingus said the decision was due to weak demand during summer months. It has operated the route since March 2006.

Gulf Air, meanwhile, closed its Dublin-Bahrain route on July 1st after just 18 months of operation.

Beatrice Cosgrove, Etihad Airways' manager in Ireland, said it was "particularly pleasing" to see Dublin performing well.

Etihad carried more than 3.3 million passengers in the nine months to the end of October, up 70 per cent on the 1.95 million carried in the same period in 2006.

It expects to carry 4.5 million passengers for the full year.