According to data supplied to Rudaw by Erbil and Sulaimani airports, 901,220 passengers arrived and departed between January 1 and May 31 – an average of 6,000 people per day.
Erbil alone saw 369,779 departures and 361,441 arrivals – a total of 731,220.
“Due to the improving economic situation and boosted trade market between the Kurdistan Region and other countries, an increase in the number of flight companies, and cheap offers for travel from travel agencies, flights have increased at Erbil airport day by day,” Sulaiman Taha, head of operations at Erbil International Airport, told Rudaw.
The figures represent a 14 percent increase in air traffic at Erbil airport compared to the same period last year, he said.
“Last year, more than 1,533,000 people traveled through Erbil airport, an average of 4,200 per day. But this year and during the first five months, 731,220 have travelled, an average of 4,875 per day leading to a 14 percent increase,” Taha said.
Twenty-two airlines operate out of Erbil airport, offering daily and weekly flights to 32 destinations in 17 different countries.
“In addition to the number of travelers, there is a 20 percent increase in the number of the airlines as four new airlines have started their flights to and from Erbil International Airport, leading to a considerable increase in the number of our flights,” he said.
The Kurdistan Region’s airports suffered a serious blow in late 2017 when the Iraqi government imposed an embargo on all international flights to and from Erbil and Sulaimani. The decision came in response to the Kurdistan independence referendum of September.
Baghdad finally lifted the ban on March 13, 2018.
However, Turkey prolonged its ban on Turkish flights to and from Sulaimani until January this year owing to a political dispute with the city’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and its alleged tolerance of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in the province.
Flights resumed after local authorities took a firmer stance against the PKK to appease Turkey.
“After the resumption of the flights from Turkey to the Sulaimani International Airport, the number of our flights and even the tourists has increased by 60 percent,” Sulaimani airport boss Tahir Abdulla told Rudaw.
Daily and weekly flight destinations from Sulaimani include Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Turkey, Iran, and some European countries, he said.
“The majority of our flights are to Turkey, the UAE, and Jordan,” he added.
The return of the airlines to Erbil and Sulaimani has reinvigorated competition among the travel agents to attract tourists.
Easy access to Turkish visas has also contributed to the growth of their market, Brwa Saeed Qadir, head of Moonline travel agency, told Rudaw.
“There is at least one hundred flights from Erbil airport to Turkey on a weekly basis,” he said, including 21 Qatar Airline flights, 12 by Fly Dubai, 14 by Atlas Jet, 25 by Turkish Airlines, nine by Royal Jordanian, 4 by Middle East Airlines, four by Fly Egypt, and five by Onur Air.
“In addition to Turkey, we have group tours for Egypt, Malaysia, and Lebanon and a large number of people take religious travel to Saudi Arabia,” Qadir added.
In such a competitive environment, ticket prices ought to be falling. However, airlines continue to charge a premium to operate in Iraqi airspace, which is considered dangerous.
“The expensive price travel from Kurdistan to other countries is attributed to lack of an insurance company, therefore airline companies do not consider Iraq’s sky as being safe and they charge more,” Omed Mohammed, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, told Rudaw.
