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Iraq-Egypt flights resume after 15 years
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-21 10:12
An Iraqi Airways plane landed in Cairo on Thursday, making the first regular
flight between Iraq and Egypt in 15 years.
The plane, which carried 75 passengers, took off from Baghdad nine hours late
because of bad weather.
An Iraqi Airways plane, similar to the one
pictured August 2005, touched down at Cairo airport, marking the
resumption of regular flights by the national carrier between Cairo and
Baghdad after a 15-year hiatus, officials said.
[AFP/File] | "The resumption of flights reflects
the importance of economic and political relations between the two countries,"
said Saad Rida, the Iraqi charge d'affaires in Cairo.
Egypt severed air links with Iraq in 1990 in compliance with U.N. sanctions
imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait that year.
Rida said Iraqi Airways initially would fly twice a week to Cairo, although
Egypt has given permission for four flights a week.
Thursday's passengers included Ahmed Abdel-Wahab, a senior official in Iraq's
Transportation Ministry, who said the airline considered the flights to Cairo
part of its expansion program.
Iraq's national carrier is now flying to Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates
and Turkey, and plans service to Lebanon and Iran.
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