The Republic will have its first direct air link to the Middle East from December when Gulf Air opens a new route between Dublin and Bahrain.

The airline yesterday announced it would be flying a Dublin-Bahrain service three times a week using an Airbus 330 with a target of betwen 900 and 1,000 passengers a week.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), formerly Aer Rianta, has been talking to the company for over a decade about flying into Dublin. The Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said he hoped further airlines would agree deals with the airport following Gulf's decision. He said upwards of 20 additional airports had signalled they were interested in having direct flights to Ireland.

"Even if only a fraction of such services actually became a reality, the potential benefit to the Irish economy would be huge," he said.

DAA chief executive Declan Collier said the new service was the first long-haul route out of Dublin not aimed at the north American market. He said the arrival of Gulf Air brings to 48 the number of scheduled airlines operating out of Dublin.

The service is likely to provide strong competition to Aer Lingus if it embarks on a new long-haul strategy. Gulf Air, one of the oldest airlines in the Middle East, has onward connections to more than 40 sites in Asia, Africa and Australia. The airline is owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

This week, the new chief executive of Aer Lingus, Dermot Mannion, told The Irish Times the airline's future would depend on it developing a long-haul strategy.

He said growth on short-haul routes was likely to prove very limited, particularly because of intense competition from Ryanair and other low-cost operators. Mr Mannion has raised the possibility of Aer Lingus linking up with a fellow member of the One World Alliance. Several of these airlines, for example Qantas and Cathay Pacific, operate in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

Passengers with Gulf Air will fly into Manama airport in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with economy return seats starting at €524, business return fares starting at €3,037, and first-class return fares starting at €4,894. Flights will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

James Hogan, president and chief executive of Gulf Air, said: "This is a major milestone, the first scheduled service from Ireland to the Middle East. When our flight takes off on December 2nd, it will connect Dublin with cities across the Middle East, the Far East, Africa and Australia."

He said there were various groups likely to be interested in the service - those visiting friends, students, business people and passengers associated with the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. He said Bahrain was the banking centre of the gulf and also hosted the Formula One grand prix each year. He said, if the numbers justified it, the service would become a five-day offering.

Gulf Air would be the only airline offering a first-class cabin in the Irish market, he said, including sky beds and a five-star chef on board. He said passengers on all parts of the aircraft would have access to "nannies to look after young travellers". Speaking at the announcement, the chief executive of Tourism Ireland, Paul O'Toole, said the main driver of tourism volumes remained air routes from Europe and the UK, but Ireland needed to diversify into other markets.

Aer Lingus announced five new routes from Dublin yesterday - to Almeria, Krakow, Riga, Fuerteventura, Salzburg and Bordeaux. A new route is also beginning from Cork to Warsaw.