Turkish Airlines resumes flights to Iraq

Dar es Salaam. Turkish Airlines has announced the resumption of daily flights to Sulaymaniyah in Iraq.

This follow a planned lift of a ban on flights to Sulaymaniyah Airport on Friday this week, Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister said on Wednesday.

The statement issued by the airline’s local office, the new destination will have seven flights per week from January 26, this year.

On September 29, 2017, Iraq’s government imposed a ban on all international flights into and out of the Kurdish region.

The ban against Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports came in response to the September 25, 2017 illegitimate referendum on Kurdish regional independence.

Howe Iraqi officials removed the ban on March 15, 2018 on international flights as the control over airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah shifted to the Iraqi central government.

Turkey’s national flag carrier reported earlier this month that it carried 75.2 million passengers last year, which was 10 per cent when compared with 2017.

Last year, the airline’s seat occupancy rate - passenger load factor - reached 82 per cent, improving 3 percentage points year-on-year.

The number of domestic and international passengers rose by 9.4 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively. Excluding international-to-international transfer passengers [transit passengers], the number of international passengers went up significantly by 12 per cent.

When compared to 2017, cargo/mail carried during the year 2018 increased by 25 per cent, reaching 1.4 million tonnes.

Turkish Airlines, founded in 1933, flies to 306 destinations in 124 countries with its fleet of 332 aircraft including passenger and cargo planes.