The other travel news stories of the week...
More flights to Abu Dhabi
ETIHAD AIRWAYS will increase its flights in and out of Dublin from next March.
It currently has daily flights to and from Abu Dhabi but will add three more flights weekly from from March 28th. According to Etihad CEO James Hogan, more than 300,000 people have used the service since the airline launched its Irish service in 2007.
Many are using Abu Dhabi as a hub for onward flights to Bangkok and Sydney.
The airline also plans to open a new lounge at Dublin airport where facilities will include bathrooms and a prayer room.
Flights from Knock to Faro
RYANAIR IS to run a new twice weekly service from Knock to Faro in the Algarve, Portugal.
The new route will start on March 30th. It’s the second scheduled European service from Ireland West Knock, following the introduction of a twice weekly serivce to Alicante, which will start up again on March 29th 2010.
The new Faro service will run between March and October.
800
The number of people in thousands expected to travel through Dublin Airport over the Christmas period, down around 30,000 on last year's figure.