AMMAN, Jordan -- Royal Jordanian
(RJ) will operate direct biweekly flights to Sulaimaniyah starting
next week, raising to 25 the number of weekly flights the national
carrier operates to Kurdistan-Iraq.
The airline’s decision to add the new destination was taken due to
the growing demand for travel between Jordan and Iraq, an RJ
official told The Jordan Times yesterday.
RJ Media Manager and Spokesman Basil Kilani said a feasibility study
showed that an increasing number of businessmen were seeking direct
flights to the area, along with foreign workers, especially from
Egypt, looking for work in Iraq’s Kurdish region (Kurdistan).
Recently, RJ operated four chartered flights from Amman to
Sulaimaniyah to accommodate the incoming Egyptian workforce traffic
to Iraq via Jordan.
“Since November 2005, RJ has been operating four weekly flights to
Erbil in Kurdistan (northern Iraq). But we decided it was necessary
to add the new destination, he said, adding that the
Sulaimaniyah
Airport was ready to handle the flights.
Kilani said the flights to Sulaimaniyah, which will start as of June
5, will also benefit area residents who travel abroad via Jordan.
“Commercially, it is feasible and with the increasing demand we
expect to increase the frequency of flights to Sulaimaniyah,” the RJ
spokesperson said.
RJ was the first commercial airline to resume flights to Baghdad
after the US-led liberation of Iraq in March 2003.
Meanwhile, in 2002, RJ operated UN-approved humanitarian flights to
Baghdad, becoming the first Arab airline to end the 10-year embargo
imposed on the country after the 1990-1991 Gulf war.
RJ now operates 16 flights to Baghdad a week, three to Basra and
four to Erbil.
The only other airline to operate regular passenger flights to Iraq
is Iraqi Airways, which resumed its services in September 2004 after
14 years of suspension in the aftermath of UN sanctions.
The airline will fly to Sulaimaniyah — a two-hour flight from Amman
— on Mondays and Fridays, using the 70-seat Bombardier Q400.
According to an RJ statement, its authorised agent in Sulaimaniyah
will handle flight reservations and ticket purchases.
Royal Jordanian expects to gradually increase its flights on this
sector, in line with the demand, the statement said.
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