Emirates Airline to resume flights to Baghdad
Dubai's Emirates Airline has announced that it is planning to resume passenger flights to the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, months after they were suspended over safety concerns.
According to the announcement on Tuesday, Emirates Airline will operate four weekly flights from Dubai to Baghdad, using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft starting from September 17, AFP quoted the airline’s statement, which was published by the UAE's official WAM news agency.
"After conducting an exhaustive safety and security review, we have decided to restart services between Dubai and Baghdad," said Sheikh Majid al-Mualla, a vice president of the company.
Emirates Airline was among a number of carriers, which decided to suspend their flights to Baghdad in January after a bullet hit the fuselage of a plane operated by its sister airline, flydubai, when it was touching down in the Iraqi capital, wounding a young girl.
Many airlines have already resumed their Baghdad flights, including Turkish Airlines and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines.
Airlines flying over Iraq were also concerned that terrorist groups operating in some parts of Iraq, especially the Takfiri ISIL group, might acquire weapons capable of hitting cruising airliners.
At present, Emirates Airline operates four weekly services to Iraq's northern city of Erbil in addition to a twice-daily service to Basra port city in southern Iraq.
"We want to continue to support the development of economic opportunities in Baghdad by increasing access to international markets and inward investment," Mualla said.
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