RE-COMMENCING OPERATIONS: Iraqi Airways aims to fly one million passengers in a year in the Baghdad-Kuala Lumpur route following re-commencement of its operations to Kuala Lumpur after a 34-year lapse.
SEPANG: Iraqi Airways, the national carrier of Iraq, aims to fly one million passengers in a year in the Baghdad-Kuala Lumpur route following re-commencement of its operations to Kuala Lumpur after a 34-year lapse.
Iraqi Airways Commercial Director Capt Badri Latif said the airlines offered two flights weekly for the route on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The flight would take about eight-and-a-half-hours on a Boeing 777 aircraft, he told reporters after the welcoming ceremony for the inaugural flight to Kuala Lumpur here today.
There were 140 passengers in the flight, Badri said, adding that the load factor for the aircraft was 360 passengers.
“To me, the number of passengers is encouraging for our first flight as we notice that most other airlines are very keen to fly to Kuala Lumpur as they see Malaysia is a hub for Asia. We want to grab this opportunity too,” he said.
Badri said about 5,000 Iraqis live in Malaysia and Iraqi Airways saw the opportunity not only from them but also from other opportunities especially in terms of tourism and business activities from both countries.
“We have three big Malaysian companies doing projects in Iraq, one of them is Petronas.
“We will bring tourists to Malaysia and we will fly back Malaysians to Iraq to help rebuild our country,” he said.
In terms of security, Badri said Iraq was currently in the improvement stage and the government would make sure everything was safe before tourists could enjoy their stay in Iraq.
Iraqi Airways now fly from Baghdad to 36 destinations using its 20 aircraft.
The airlines has ordered 15 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft which will be fully delivered by next year.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister of Transport Hadi Al Amiri said Kuala Lumpur was their first destination in this region.
“We see Malaysia as the role model for modest Islamic countries which is very successful in terms of economic growth. I believe the resumption of flights will directly strengthen our bond as Muslim nations,” he added.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said: “We feel very pleased as Iraqi Airways has chose Malaysia as their first destination in this region.
“This showed Malaysia has very strong attraction among the Middle Easterners,” he added.
The inclusion of the Iraqi Airways brings to 13 the number of Middle Eastern airlines serving Kuala Lumpur International Airports (KLIA).
So far this year, KLIA has welcomed six new airlines – Thai Smile, Malindo Air, Air France, Turkish Airlines, the Philippines Airlines and Iraqi Airways.
“About 1.23 million passenger movements from the Middle East were registered in the first half of this year, which represented a 13.4 per cent growth compared to the same period last year.
“We foresee the Middle East region to continue contributing to higher number of passenger movements this year, especially with the inclusion of new airlines from the Middle East,” Bashir added — Bernama