"As the deputy parliament speaker, I met with the communications minister, the head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation board and the general manager of the Iraqi Airways. We emphasized on offering the best quality service to passengers onboard planes," Bashir Haddad, the second deputy parliament speaker, said on Monday.
Iraqi Airways has commercial flights at two international airports in the Kurdistan Region — Erbil and Sulaimani.
Haddad added "we also voiced the significance of using Kurdish language aboard the planes given that the Kurdish language is an official language according to the Iraqi constitution."
Flight safety instructions and updates are currently conducted in Arabic and English.
"Therefore we asked, in addition to Arabic and English for Kurdish language be added," Haddad said, adding they agreed to his call.
Arabic and Kurdish are enshrined in the Iraqi constitution as official languages on all governmental documents.
"They agreed with our call and said reading regulations and offering services aboard planes will soon be recorded,” he added.
Haddad said in the meeting he also urged the relevant authorities to employee Kurdish workers at Iraqi airports.
"A number of employees working at the Iraqi airports will need to be Kurds, so they could easily understand each other with travelers at necessary times,” said Haddad.
While all Kurds learn basic Arabic in elementary school, some do not go on to take higher-level courses.
Reporting by Sami' Zubar
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