Egyptair to resume Iraq flights after 21 years

CAIRO: Egypt's national carrier Egyptair will start operating direct flights to Iraq next month for the first time in 21 years, the chairman of the Egyptair holding company told AFP on Monday.

Hussein Massoud said services to Baghdad and Arbil, in the Kurdish north, would resume on July 15.

"There will be four weekly flights to Baghdad and three weekly flights to Arbil," Massoud said.

Flights for Baghdad will be scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while flights to Arbil will be on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, he said.

Egyptair stopped flying to Iraq in 1990 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

In a statement, the carrier said the decision to resume flights "comes as one of the steps taken by Egyptair to build new markets and to link Iraq with Europe and North America through Cairo Hub."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011