Iraq calls on Saudi Arabia to resume Riyadh-Baghdad flights

Iraq’s Minister of Transport, Razzaq Al-Saadawi, met with his Saudi counterpart, Saleh Al-Jasser, in Jeddah yesterday and called for the reactivation of flights between Baghdad and Riyadh.

According to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), Al-Saadawi made the request during bilateral talks at the sidelines of the Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference (SMIC) hosted at the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. The pair also discussed railway projects between the two countries and details of the $17 billion Development Road project Iraq is working on, which will link Asia to Europe.

Following the meeting, a statement read: “The maritime transport agreement between the two countries was discussed, which aims to increase the traffic of intra-trade ships, in order to increase trade exchange and facilitate procedures for access to the ports.”

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Regarding air transport, Al-Saadawi urged “the Saudi side to reactivate the Baghdad-Riyadh line, which has stopped operating since the 1990s.”

Al-Jasser, for his part, pointed out that “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports strengthening joint cooperation with Baghdad.”

“Iraqi Airlines is welcomed at the airports of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added pledging “to overcome any obstacles facing the process of resuming flights between Baghdad and Riyadh.”

In April Saudi Arabia received the first two flights from Iraq after several years, arriving in Jeddah from Erbil in the Kurdistan region as part of efforts of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council aimed at facilitating the movements of travellers and pilgrims for Umrah. On Saturday Arabian Business reported that Saudi budget airline Flynas will begin operating direct weekly flights between Jeddah and Baghdad.