“Iraqi Airways announced the start of direct flights from Baghdad to Beijing after a hiatus that lasted for several years. The first flight took off this afternoon, Saturday, from Baghdad International Airport to Beijing Daxing International Airport,” said the ministry in a statement.
There will be two outgoing and two incoming flights between the two cities on a weekly basis, according to the statement.
This is “an important step,” said Manaf Abdul-Moneim, director general of Iraqi Airways, adding that it will open doors for increased cooperation between Iraq and China.
The flights were supposed to resume in May. There are also direct flights between Baghdad and Guangzhou.
Trade volume between Iraq and China was over $50 billion in 2023, Iraqi Ambassador to Beijing Shoresh Khalid said in May, predicting that the volume will exceed $55 billion this year. Direct flights between Baghdad and Guangzhou is one of the factors contributing to the growing trade volume, according to the diplomat.
China is the biggest importer of Iraqi oil.
China is also heavily invested in numerous sectors inside Iraq. A shortage of schools in the country paved the way for an agreement with Beijing to build 1,000 new schools in Iraq by the end of 2024. That number is likely to increase in the coming years.
Iraqi Airways also announced that direct flights between Baghdad and Moscow will resume on July 16, after they were put on hold in February reportedly due to operational issues with Russia.
The scheduled flights will operate twice a week on Saturdays and Tuesdays, with the possibility of adding extra flights “after studying the volume of demand,” according to Abdul-Moneim.
