Gulf Air, the national carrier for Bahrain, announced it will start new flight services to Baghdad, Iraq beginning on 1 September 2009.  CEO Samer Majali said “Gulf Air will become the first GCC Airline to offer direct flights to Iraq, adding to its pioneering legacy.”   He said there are many reasons geographically and economically to include Iraq in their regional network.   

There is a direct demand from Bahrain, and service from Iraq will complement feeder services from Europe, especially London.    Mr. Majali said “this will enable us to capture intercontinental traffic with passengers having less than two hour connections via our Bahrain hub.”  He said both countries finalized an air service agreement last month.   The Gulf Air service to Baghdad will operate five times a week and additional routes to Najif and Irbil will be added to its network by the end of September.