newstodate.aero
Mar 14, 2008 (newstodate): Since February 27, 2008, the Iraqi/Swedish company Res Nu has offered direct flights between Copenhagen and Baghdad.
Flights are performed once weekly with MD-83 aircraft from the Syrian low-cost carrier Sham Wings Airlines that started operations in January with flights between Damascus and Baghdad.
-It is still difficult for Nordic Airways to obtain permits from the Swedish authorities to operate direct flights between Sweden and Iraq, so we had to start up from Copenhagen, using another carrier, says Beshar Abbas, Rejs Nu VP.
-Our plans include the re-opening of flights from Stockholm to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah as soon as possible, and we also plan to start flights on a new route from Stockholm to Basra from May this year. But it all depends on the Swedish authorities.
-If we do not meet sufficient flexibility from that side we will have to move all operations to Copenhagen instead.
-We find it difficult to understand that on one hand the Swedish government has now deemed Iraq sufficiantly safe to deport Iraqi nationals that have not been granted asylum in Sweden back to Iraq, while on the other hand it still denies us traffic rights, claiming that the security situation may not be safe enough for flight operations, says Mr Abbas.
-There is a huge demand for direct air traffic between Europe and Iraq, and we already carry many European, including Scandinavian VIPs on our flights, he says.
Flights are performed once weekly with MD-83 aircraft from the Syrian low-cost carrier Sham Wings Airlines that started operations in January with flights between Damascus and Baghdad.
-It is still difficult for Nordic Airways to obtain permits from the Swedish authorities to operate direct flights between Sweden and Iraq, so we had to start up from Copenhagen, using another carrier, says Beshar Abbas, Rejs Nu VP.
-Our plans include the re-opening of flights from Stockholm to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah as soon as possible, and we also plan to start flights on a new route from Stockholm to Basra from May this year. But it all depends on the Swedish authorities.
-If we do not meet sufficient flexibility from that side we will have to move all operations to Copenhagen instead.
-We find it difficult to understand that on one hand the Swedish government has now deemed Iraq sufficiantly safe to deport Iraqi nationals that have not been granted asylum in Sweden back to Iraq, while on the other hand it still denies us traffic rights, claiming that the security situation may not be safe enough for flight operations, says Mr Abbas.
-There is a huge demand for direct air traffic between Europe and Iraq, and we already carry many European, including Scandinavian VIPs on our flights, he says.