By John Lee. The international airports at Erbil (pictured) and Sulaymaniyah have been closed due to Russian aerial operations against Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) militants in Syria, according to a report from BasNews. Iraqi aviation authorities told the airports to close on Sunday evening for 48 hours -- flights are scheduled to resume on […]
By John Lee. Turkish Airlines has added Erbil to its list of flight destinations operated from/to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. Beginning July 20th, roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Erbil are being operated four times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; from September 16th, flights will be increased to 7 per week. (Source: […]
By John Lee. Germania has suspended air services to Erbil, which has come under increasing threat from Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) terrorists. Germany's Federal Ministry for Transport (Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur - BMVI) has prohibited all flights by German airlines to Erbil until 30th March 2015 (inclusive). Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Emirates, Etihad […]
By John Lee. After renewed consultation with the relevant national security authorities, the Lufthansa Group has decided to resume flights to Erbil in northern Iraq from Monday. Erbil lies well outside the direct crisis zone in Iraq, and flights to and from the city will be routed to avoid overflying the zone. Lufthansa flies twice-weekly […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. International cargo flights to Kurdistan were set to resume today (Tuesday) following an announcement by the central government this month in reaction to the KRGs move for independence. The resumption of flights will impact a number of Turkish, Qatari, and Emirati airlines that operate out of the KRGs two main airports […]
By John Lee. A spokesman for Erbil International Airport has told Iraq Business News that there has been no official instruction from Baghdad regarding the blocking of freight flights to airports in Iraqi Kurdistan, but added that there have been emails to airlines confirming that this is the case. "The irony is," said Andrew Jones, […]
By John Lee. Cargo flights to and from Erbil and Sulaimanya [Slemani] have reportedly been suspended. A spokesman for Emirates SkyCargo told Lloyd’s Loading List that the airline’s freighter flights to and from Erbil “have been temporarily suspended at the request of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority. However, Emirates [passenger] flights are operating as per […]
Erbil International Airport continued to grow in 2013 as new milestones for passengers, cargo and aircraft movements were set. The airport broke through the one million passengers a year milestone in late October and in total 1,193, 783 passengers passed through the airport, a growth rate of 26%. June, 2013, broke new records for passenger […]
By John Lee. Georgian Airways has started flights between Iraq and Georgia. Operating twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, the flights run between the Georgian capital Tbilisi and Erbil International Airport. A one-way ticket costs $250, with a round trip ticket costing $425. (Source: Georgian Airways)
An international jury at the Emerging Markets Airport Show in Dubai has voted Erbil International Airport the best airport amongst emerging market airports with less than five million passengers per annum, across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Citing the exceptional growth, 53% in 2012, in passenger numbers to 947,400, and 54% in cargo tonnage, […]
In 2012, 947,600 passengers used Erbil's new International Airport, a 53% increase on the previous year, whilst cargo tonnage also increased dramatically, with a 54% increase to 27,849 tonnes per annum. The 2012 passenger count brings the total number of passengers departing Erbil International Airport since the new terminal opened in September, 2010, to 1.7 […]
Erbil International Airport has welcomed the decision of the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to lift its ban on commercial planes from the US flying into Kurdistan. The ban, imposed in 1996, for safety and security reasons has been in place for 16 years. The decision will benefit private jets, and cargo services in particular. […]
