Emirates starts flights to Erbil

Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airline, extended its reach to 16th destination in the Middle East when the carrier landed in Erbil city in Iraq on Sunday. Erbil is the 11th destination launched by the airline this year and its third gateway in Iraq, after Baghdad and Basra where it already operates daily flights. “….We are confident that our passenger operations in Erbil will be as successful as our existing Iraqi gateways. Erbil will provide our passengers with an excellent opportunity to travel shamelessly both in and out of Erbil to our worldwide network of 126 destinations in 74 countries,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates executive vice-president, Engineering & Operations, said in a statement. “Iraq continues to see an upward trend in economic growth and we are firmly committed to helping the country prosper and flourish. We expect this new destination to be extremely popular with the many multinational companies who have a presence in Erbil, in addition to those looking to set up new business ventures.” Al Redha added. An aviation analysts said while the Iraqi economic situation varies wildly between the northern, central and southern parts of the country, demand is high for both business and leisure travel and Emirates looks keen to tap into that and try to become a dominant provider of air traffic services for those wanting to spend more money as opposed to those looking for cheaper flights. “As Iraq slowly returns to some level of normalcy with business and trade starting to become a little more robust, it’s likely Emirates will continue to grow its footprint in the country, potentially spawning other Arab and GCC airlines to do the same,” Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times. In addition to Erbil Emirates has launched several other new destinations this year including; Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dallas Fort Worth, Seattle, Lusaka, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Barcelona, and Lisbon. Flights to Washington DC, Adelaide, Lyon, Phuket and Warsaw will also join the Emirates’ network in the few coming months. The new service between Emirates’ hub in Dubai and Erbil will initially operate four times a week, increasing to a daily service from September 1. Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has been operating a freighter out of Erbil since February 2011. Meeting the strong demand for transporting machinery and parts for the oil and gas industry, it connects Erbil and points throughout its network with three scheduled freighters a week, operated by Boeing 777Fs, which have a capacity of 103 tonnes. The passenger flight, which is able to carry 13 tonnes in the belly hold, will increase the weekly capacity from Erbil to more than 400 tonnes. From : Khalij