Baghdad-Kuwait Flights to Resume After 22-Year Hiatus
Iraq’s national carrier, Iraqi Airways, is about to begin a twice-weekly service from Baghdad to Kuwait, a development that shows progress in reconciliation between the two former foes, writes Omar al-Shaher.
The general director of Iraqi Airways, Saad al-Khafaji, announced that flights from Baghdad to Kuwait will resume on Feb. 28, after a 22-year suspension following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The invasion led to a multinational war to oust Iraqi forces from the neighboring emirate and then 13 years of economic sanctions against Iraq under President Saddam Hussein. Bilateral relations between Iraq and Kuwait have since resumed.
“One of our planes was supposed to fly this week for the first time to Kuwait after years of suspension; however, the flight was rescheduled until next Thursday,” said Khafaji in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor. “The delay is related to the readiness of Kuwait to receive the Iraqi plane,” he added. Baghdad had announced the resumption of Iraqi Airways flights to Kuwait a few days earlier.
The Iraqi Ministry of Transportation believes that this step will pave the road toward restoring aviation relations between the two countries, announcing that the state-run carrier will initially schedule two flights a week to Kuwait. Subsequently, the number of flights will be determined based on passenger demand. Khafaji said that the number of Kuwaitis traveling to Baghdad exceeds that of Iraqis heading to Kuwait. Moreover, Kuwait has restrictive measures on the entry of Iraqis and has frequently denied them entry for security reasons.
Iraq and Kuwait earlier resolved a lawsuit brought by Kuwait requesting $1.2 billion in reparations for damage to aircraft dating back to the invasion. In January, the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation announced that Kuwait had dropped all lawsuits filed against Iraqi Airways, which would allow the company to build a new fleet, given that its planes were previously restricted by legal measures.
