Austrian Airlines to fly to Baghdad from 8 June 2011

Austrian Airlines is to reincorporate the Vienna-Baghdad-Vienna route into its scheduled flight programme from 8 June 2011 onwards. The carrier will operate a total of three flights a week to the Iraqi capital. The service will be provided using an aircraft from the Airbus A320 fleet.

Austrian Airlines is returning to the Iraqi capital after 21 years. This will be Austrian’s second destination in Iraq, together with the city of Erbil. Austrian Airlines originally included the Vienna-Baghdad route in its flight schedule in 1982, but was forced to discontinue its service due to the Kuwait crisis in 1990.

Austrian Airlines provides its customers with a route network of 130 destinations worldwide. It operates the leading hub for the Central and Eastern Europe region, with 46 destinations. Passengers can fly long-haul from Vienna to 10 destinations. Seven of these are in Asia, and three are in North America. Together with its partner carrier United Airlines, Austrian Airlines offers its passengers connections throughout North America.

Austrian Airlines is a pioneer in the Middle East: In December 2006, it has been the first Western European airline to operate a service to northern Iraq, and has continually expanded its presence in the region. In summer 2011, Austrian Airlines will operate six flights a week to Erbil. In spring 2004, Austria also became the first country in Western Europe to conclude a new, liberal and bilateral transport agreement with the Iraqi authorities after the Iraq war. This was done on the initiative of Austrian Airlines. With the additional connection to Baghdad, Austrian Airlines offers flights to 12 destinations in the Middle East.

Source: Austrian Airlines Group