Emirates was the first international airline to resume overflights of Iraq, with the first flights through the Baghdad FIR on Monday Nov 27. After several years of restrictions. Emirates anticipates that about 150 flights a day will now route via Iraq, rather than having to take longer routes via Saudi Arabia or Iran.
After a three year suspension, some UAE-based flights are now transiting Iraqi airspace. Additional airlines are poised to take advantage of the shorter route between Europe and the Gulf area as restrictions are lifted.https://t.co/X5VvwuynVv pic.twitter.com/cQAatUthCb
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 28, 2017
This is the first in several steps we expect will lead to almost full resumption of overflights over Iraq, meaning operators will have shorter routes through the Middle East available once again.
