Ankara, April 7 (AKnews) - Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) is finalizing preparations to launch flights to Erbil in mid-April.
The plan for the Turkish state airline to open a route to the Kurdish region of Iraq was disclosed in late March when the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan opened jointly in a ceremony with the President of the region Massoud Barzani the Erbil International Airport.
Erbil airport was opened mid 2005, but it was renovated in 2010 to accommodate new technologies. Its runway is said to be the longest in the Middle East and the fifth on the world level, after China, Russia, South Africa and the U.S. respectively.
So far only private companies operated the flights between Kurdistan and Turkey, "but we have decided to also engage Turkish Airlines in the travels." said Erdogan.
"THY has finished all preparations to operate the first flight on April 14," an official of the airline told AKnews.
"The company has started selling tickets, and three flights per week will be operated to Erbil, on Saturdays , Tuesdays and Thursdays".
THY operates scheduled flights to 134 international destinations serving a total of 175 airports, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Earlier, Abdul Hussein Abtan, a member of the Najaf Provincial council told AKnews the civil aviation authorities in Iraq and turkey have given Turkish Airlines the go ahead for 36 flights a week between Istanbul and six Iraqi airports, Baghdad, Erbil, Najaf, Sulaimaniyah, Basrah and Mosul.
Currently the private Atlas Jet operates four flights per week between Turkey and Kurdistan Region. The operation of more flights between Turkey and Iraq is hoped to lower costs of air travel.
Erbil Airport was designed by a British company and the construction was implemented by by a Turkish company over an area of 27,000 square meters. It can operate 150 flights per day.
© AK News 2011
