Iraq: International flight ban to Kurdistan extended

Iraqi authorities have extended the ban on international flights to and from the Kurdistan region for two months, the Airport Director in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital Erbil announced yesterday.

Talar Faiq Salih said that the transport ministry in Baghdad had sent a message signalling that the international flights “were banned until 28 February”, adding that under the decision, the Erbil and Sulaimaniyah International Airports will remain closed until that date.

“Only internal flights are authorised,” she noted.

The two-month extension sees Baghdad keeping up the pressure on Iraqi Kurdistan as the fallout from the failed independence push batters its economy.

Baghdad placed severe restrictions on the Kurdish region on 29 September after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum which was rejected and considered illegal by the central government. The initial flight ban was due to expire today.

Read: The independence gamble has misfired for Iraq’s Kurds

The flight ban was part of a number of penalties inflicted on the Kurds as Baghdad sought to nullify the poll, with federal forces also seizing disputed oil-rich regions of the country from the Kurds.

Days before the ban, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi asked the Kurds to hand over the management of the Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports to the Iraqi government, otherwise “the government will suspend all direct international flights to and from Kurdistan.” The request was rejected by Erbil.

The Iraqi Parliament also authorised Al-Abadi to take all necessary measures to restore the federal government’s authority on all disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil.