The Queen Mary 2 - the luxury flagship of the Cunard Line - will make her maiden call at Abu Dhabi when she visits the Mina Zayed cruise terminal later this month.

The US $880million cruise liner - built in 2004 to replace the illustrious Queen Elizabeth 2 - will spend the day in Mina Zayed before sailing for Cochin in India.

The liner will arrive in Abu Dhabi on January 29th with 2,620 passengers with tourism officials hailing the debut as a significant boost towards the city’s ambitions of receiving 180,000 passengers in the current cruise season and to attain a 39 per cent increase in the 2014/2015 season.

“To attract a cruise liner of this calibre is a tremendous endorsement of Abu Dhabi’s rising status as a global cruise destination and solid sector partner,” said Noura Al Dhaheri, leisure product development manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

“Cunard has a reputation of selecting only the very best destinations for their world cruises, and we believe its confidence in our destination will act as a catalyst for other lines to consider adding Abu Dhabi to their itineraries, further propelling our cruise credentials.”

Queen Mary 2 will call at Abu Dhabi as part of her 2013 World Voyage, a 106 day odyssey from Southampton in the UK, calling via the Mediterranean and the Red Sea then heading out across the Indian Ocean to the Far East & China, Australia, New Zealand and Mauritius to South Africa, before returning to Southampton prior to embarking on the itinerary’s transatlantic leg.

“It has taken over three years of delicate negotiations to secure the inclusion of Abu Dhabi on Queen Mary 2’s World Voyage itinerary,” said George Varghese, from Rais Hassan Saadi Group, Cunard’s port handling agent.

“She is the pinnacle of ocean liner travel, with guests demanding the very best on-board service matched with equally high standards in shoreline excursion opportunities.

“Abu Dhabi has proven itself as equal to that task.”