Dubai – Emirates Airline will start flying to Baghdad, in Iraq, on November 13th. The Dubai-based carrier already flies to Basra, in southern Iraq, since February. The CEO and chairman of the company, Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, stated that occupancy rates in the four weekly flights between Basra and Dubai have exceeded the company’s expectations. He claimed that now, the populations of Baghdad and neighbouring cities, at a total 5 million people, will have access to Emirates’ “vast global network”.
The flights between Baghdad and Dubai will take place on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, operated by an Airbus A330 comprising first class, business class and economy class. Aside from the demand in Iraq, the flight has been made possible because the carrier should receive 14 new aircraft in 2011, which will enable the company to increase the number of destinations it flies to.
Baghdad is the fifth new destination announced by Emirates in 2011. In February, the airline began flying to Basra and to Geneva, in Switzerland. On August 1st, it will fly to Copenhagen, in Denmark. The inaugural flight to Saint Petersburg, in Russia, will take place on November 1st. The company forecasts that most of the passengers on the route to Baghdad will be Iraqi government officials and representatives of the building, telecommunications and oil sectors.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
