Aviation experts originally thought direct flights from Ireland to the Middle East would be a commercial failure.

That’s according to former Gulf Air and Etihad CEO James Hogan who said he had to overrule his own employees to get the flights off the ground. 

Mr Hogan, who spent 11 years as CEO of Etihad, oversaw a significant expansion in the number of routes the company operates. 

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Mr Hogan said the route to Dublin was introduced following lobbying by the Irish Government. 

“When I was the CEO of Gulf Air, [Bertie] Ahern was a regular visitor to Bahrain meeting the Government,” he said. 

“He started pressing on me to fly to Dublin direct. 

“My team said, ‘No, it doesn’t work, no one flies to Dublin.’

“But I thought hang on, let’s look at the passenger flows over Heathrow, over Amsterdam going east.” 

An Arab airline supporting the GAA? Former Etihad CEO James Hogan, on bringing the airline to Ireland, and sponsoring the GAA, on @PatKennyNT pic.twitter.com/9dbg7IkC1U

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) August 29, 2024

The marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Picture by: Jan Wlodarczyk / Alamy Stock Photo

To Mr Hogan, the numbers seemed to add up - plenty of Irish people were flying to the Middle East but they had to transit through airports in Britain or continental Europe.

“I took the decision to launch into Dublin, four flights a week,” he said. 

“Then, when I moved across to Etihad, I brought in Etihad daily and double daily - a huge success.

“All of a sudden, we had an air bridge of one stop over Abu Dhabi to the Middle East, to South East Asia and Australia.

“It was a winner - not two stops, one stop.”

Dublin Airport welcomes @etihad's new Airbus A350, one of the most innovative and sustainable planes in the world ✈️

Details here : https://t.co/aGONhCU0Cm pic.twitter.com/id1tlTPFJ0

— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) March 31, 2023

Other Middle Eastern airlines have since launched their own direct flights to Ireland and Mr Hogan said he feels fully vindicated in his decision. 

“If you look at the market today, you have Emirates, Qatar, you have Turkish. 

“So, I’m proud of the support that was given to me by Mr Ahern, Mr Cowen, Mr Kenny - great support. 

“The State was great.” 

GAA sponsorship

With two Irish great-grandfathers and an Irish surname, you might expect Mr Hogan to have approached his dealings with Ireland with a certain sentimentality. 

However, he insists it was only ever “about business” - which is why he decided to sponsor the GAA. 

“People said what are you doing, an Arab airline, supporting the GAA?” he recalled. 

“It was fantastic, the brand was there in the community, we were engaged, we supported the GAA in other parts of the world - Australia and South East Asia.” 

According to the Irish Embassy in the UAE, there are now over 10,000 Irish people living in the country.

Main image: James Hogan. Picture by: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy Live News