Lufthansa says it will resume flights to Iraq on April 25, with a four-times weekly service between Frankfurt and Erbil.
The carrier announced it was “examining the possibility” of routes to Iraq earlier this year (see online news January 12), and has now confirmed that services to Erbil will commence on April 25, using A319 aircraft configured for 132 seats in an economy and business layout.
The flight time will be around four and half hours, with a 1015 departure from Frankfurt on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, arriving into Erbil at 1540. The return leg will depart Iraq at 1645, landing back into Frankfurt at 2025.
The new flights will see Lufthansa resume services to Iraq after a break of 20 years, although Austrian Airlines (part of the Lufthansa Group), has served Erbil from Vienna since 2006, and already offers a codeshare with Lufthansa on this route. The German carrier says it also plans to resume flights to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad this year “and is currently making the necessary preparations to do so”.
For more information visit lufthansa.com.
Report by Mark Caswell