The safest route...for delays strikes etc. is take the Etihad flight Abu Dhabi to Dublin and drive down but it is tiring to come off flight and into car for extra 3 hrs. We usually fly Dubai London Shannon to get to West of Ireland and friends living in Cork tend to prefer Dubai Amsterdam Cork with KLM/EI (price is usually cheaper than Emirates/Aer Lingus).
rgs
Margo
Hey I would recommend Dubai to Amsterdam then onto Cork with Aer Lingus. Hav been travelling home with my now 5 year old for the last 3 years and always found this is the easiest way. Schipol airport is small, much easier to navigate than Heathrow and usually the stopover times are very short and have never been delayed once.
We fly to dublin from abu dhabi with etihad. Far smaller airport to navigate compared with heathrow and in my opinion less chance of delays etc. We travel from dublin up to the north of ireland and have never had any problems.
So frustrating there is no direct flight from Dubai - I have a one year old in tow , so need things to be as easy as poss. Lillythepink - why do you prefer LHR to Dub?
we have always used Dubai to Heathrow and then onwards to Cork, can't bear going through Dublin, give me LHR anyday, my parents travelled out this year through Amsterdam and on to Dubai with KLM, a bit of a tight connection in Amsterdam on the way out but they managed fine and no probs with luggage.
we are flying Emirates to London Heathrow and then switching to aer lingus to Cork (an hour and a half connection time at LHR). Booked with emirates, and they do these as connecting flights as they are linked partners.
we always fly Etihad AD direct to Dublin. We have a 18 month old DD so the direct route works best for us. We still have to get from Dublin to the west after we arrive but still feel this is our best option. Often more expensive than going through London, PAris or Amsterdam but to have just one flight, its worth the extra money.
I know people who prefer to fly to London and then get a connecting to Cork so that may work better for you.
Curly