Emirates will restart flying to Erbil in Iraq from August 15, 2015.
“We have been closely observing the situation in northern Iraq and upon a comprehensive review of our operations as well as a detailed risk assessment that is in line with Emirates’ safety standards, we decided to recommence our services to Erbil,” said Majid Al Mualla, divisional senior vice president of commercial operations at Emirates. “This will help support the wider business community in resuming their activities in Erbil which had been disrupted by conflict.”
Emirates suspended its Erbil flights in March 2015 due to the conflict situation in the north of the country.
The resumption includes both cargo and passenger flights. Emirates SkyCargo will operate the Erbil route twice a week with a Boeing 777 Freighter, which has a capacity of approximately 100 tonnes. The passenger flight will be flown four times weekly with an Airbus A330-200, on which SkyCargo will be offering a capacity of 17 tonnes. Goods expected to be carried include mobile phones, telephones, hand-held equipment, laptop computers and semiconductors, according to Emirates.
Flight times will be longer because Emirates will be redirecting its flight path to and from Erbil as “a precautionary measure,” Al Mualla.
Emirates also flies to the southern city of Basra.
The freighter flight will be offered every Tuesday and Friday, and will originate at Al Maktoum International Airport. Timings for the passenger flight are shown below.
Mon |
EK949 |
DXB 06:45 – 09:20 EBL |
EK950 |
EBL 10:45 – 14:55 DXB |
|
Tue/Thur/Sat |
EK951 |
DXB 13:15 – 15:50 EBL |
EK952 |
EBL 17:25 – 21:35 DXB |