ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi officials have permitted foreign nationals living in the Kurdistan Region to leave the country on a limited number of commercial flights out of Erbil International Airport (EIA) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Rudaw English has learned.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq approved flights from Baghdad and Erbil en route to Doha from April 2-4, 2020 (via Qatar Airways),” reads an email sent to Canadian citizens from their embassy in Baghdad.
These are the first commercial flights allowed out of Erbil since the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority issued a ban on March 17 in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
“Multiple embassies in Iraq worked together to lobby the Government of Iraq to allow commercial flights to depart Iraq,” the Canadian embassy email said.
Andrew Jones, spokesman for Erbil International Airport, says another flight to Bucharest on Friday has been approved by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Ministry of Interior.
No commercial inbound flights to Erbil have been scheduled, Jones said. This does not include Iraqi nationals who have been repatriated by Iraq’s Foreign Ministry and the crisis cell.
Middle East Airlines is “exploring options for an evacuation flight for Lebanese nationals”. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
Several foreign nationals say the cost of the specially scheduled Qatar Airways flights, which have fluctuated since going on sale, are now at least five times their usual price.
“Qatar charging $2,500 looks like price gouging, especially for a full plane,” said David Sloan, a British citizen who has been teaching English at Raparin University since September 2017.
He says he heard about a significantly cheaper flight to Amsterdam via Friday’s Bucharest flight, but is concerned connecting flights to his home in Northern Ireland could be “a little risky.”
“Foreign countries should probably be paying for – or certainly subsidizing – flights for travelers caught up,” he told Rudaw English in a Facebook message on Thursday.
As of Thursday afternoon, a Friday flight to Doha costs $1,408. And this doesn’t include the price of onward travel.
An expat working in Erbil, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Rudaw English he is returning to Belgium so he “can stay with family in this difficult moment.”
He says he has paid more than double the usual price for the journey and believes embassies should offer financial assistance to those who want to return home but lack the means.
Several days before the commercial flight ban was imposed, airport officials strongly denied rumors about a possible closure, saying neither the KRG nor the Iraqi federal government had advised them to close.
However, on March 16, EIA said the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority had instructed airports throughout Iraq, including Erbil, to close to commercial passenger flights from 18.00 on March 17 – a mere 23 hours after the announcement.
It is unclear when the airports will return to normal operations.
Several Western embassies and consulates in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are advising against all foreign travel.
As of Thursday, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have reported a total of 772 COVID-19 cases, including 54 deaths and 202 recoveries.
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