United Arab Emirates flag-carrier Etihad Airways is celebrating three years of its non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Moscow.

The airline commenced operations to the Russian capital in December 2008 and since then has carried almost 200,000 travellers on the route.

Five weekly flights became a daily service in 2009, and seat load factors have increased in each year of operation.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways chief executive, said: “With the addition of a number of new network connections in 2011, we are on track to carry a record number of passengers on the Abu Dhabi-Moscow route this year.”

Etihad Airways - considered the World’s Leading Airline by the World Travel Awards - operates a two-cabin Airbus A320 aircraft between Abu Dhabi and Moscow.  This configuration means 1,904 seats a week – 224 in Pearl Business, and 1,680 in Coral Economy.