Direct flights resume between Erbil, Dusseldorf: EIA
So far, the Kurdish capital has resumed direct flights with Germany and Austria.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Flights between the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Germany’s Dusseldorf resumed on Tuesday after they were halted due to coronavirus restrictions, a top Erbil International Airport (EIA) official told Kurdistan 24.
An Iraqi Airways plane left Erbil’s international airport on Tuesday, marking the first direct flight resumption between Dusseldorf and the autonomous region’s capital city, according to Hoshyar Ahmed, EIA director.
The flights were previously halted due to the COVID-19 outbreak, forcing airlines to ground planes in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
The EIA operates three trips per week to Germany and Denmark until the end of the year, according to the director.
So far, the Kurdish capital has resumed direct flights with Germany and Austria, according to Hoshyar.
During the global lockdown, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) facilitated the repatriation of a considerable number of students and citizens stranded outside the Kurdistan Region.
Read More: KRG repatriates 201 students, citizens from Turkey amid COVID-19 crisis
The Civil Aviation Agency’s decision to suspend flights was made on March 17 and was planned to last for a week as the government began to take preventive measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus. However, it was extended several times afterward. The latest extension by the agency is expected to end on May 22.
According to the latest figures from the KRG’s health ministry, there have been 100,719 confirmed cases since the coronavirus outbreak in the Kurdistan Region, including 65,283 recoveries, and 3,303 deaths.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
