Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air said it is set to resume its services to Iran and Iraq starting from September 20 following approval from the government authorities.

Flights to Baghdad, Erbil, Najaf and Basra in Iraq and Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan in Iran will begin progressively between September 20 and October 28 subject to final approvals by the civil aviation authorities of the respective countries, said a statement from Gulf Air.

Announcing this on Wednesday, Gulf Air CEO Samer Majali said, “We are glad to be resuming our operations to Iran and Iraq. I am sure this will be a welcoming news for thousands of Iranians and Iraqis living and working in Bahrain and the GCC countries as well as the business community for whom the direct flights will be a great advantage.”

“We were the first and only full-service GCC carrier to operate into Baghdad back in 1976. Again, we were the first carrier to restart our operations in 2009, which received overwhelming support from travellers with most of our flights flying to full capacity,' remarked Majali.

'However we had to suspend the flights in 2011 due to unavoidable circumstances but were confident that we will resume our operations soon,' he stated.

'I am glad the time has come and we look forward to the same support from our customers,' he added.

Flight schedule for Iraq

Najaf – From September 20 with 4 weekly flights increasing to daily from December 1.
Baghdad- From September 21 with five weekly flights.

Erbil - From September 23 with four weekly flights increasing to daily from October 28
Basra - From October 29 with three weekly flights increasing to four from December 1.

Flight schedule for Iran
Mashhad - Starting from Sept 22 with 4 weekly flights increasing to daily from Dec 2.
Shiraz- From September 23 with five weekly flights increasing to daily from December 1
Tehran- From September 25 with six weekly flights increasing to daily from December 1
Isfahan - From October 30 with three weekly flights.

All these flights will be operated by a combination of Embraer and Airbus fleet, the airline said its statement.-TradeArabia News Service