Baghdad airport resumes flights after dust storm

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Baghdad International Airport resumed flights on Wednesday evening after suspending them for several hours due to a dust storm, the Civil Aviation Authority announced.

Jihad al-Diwan, the spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority, told the Iraqi News Agency that "flights at Baghdad airport have been resumed after the weather conditions improved."

The dust storm that engulfed Baghdad early Wednesday drastically reduced visibility to as low as 500 meters, leading to the decision to cancel flights.

Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and several regions and cities in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, are witnessing an increase in dust storms. This is the second time in April that Baghdad International Airport suspended flights due to the bad weather.

The other three international airports in the country have also recently suspended flights due to extreme dust storms, including the Kurdistan Region's two airports, Erbil International Airport and Sulaimani Airport, and Najaf International Airport in Iraq's southern Shiite shrine city.

Environmental authorities have said that droughts, desertification, and low precipitation are some factors behind the increasing number of dust storms in the country.

According to the United Nations, Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country to the adverse effects of climate change.