Greek airline to operate direct flights to Baghdad from December

A Greek airline will start direct flights from here European Union to the country Baghdad Before the end of the year, Greek The Foreign Minister made this announcement during his visit on Thursday Iraq,

Giorgos Gerapatraitis said Greek air carrier Aegean Airlines will operate its first flight from Athens to Baghdad on December 16. No other European airlines currently operate direct flights to the Iraqi capital.

“I think this will greatly boost economic, but also cultural ties between our peoples,” Gerapatraitis said at a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart.

Aegean Airlines and some other carriers already run direct flights from Europe to Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north, but the carriers had largely avoided Baghdad because of security concerns.

Following the fall of Iraq’s longtime autocratic leader, Saddam HusseinThe US-led invasion in 2003, however, led to years of sectarian violence and the rise of armed extremist groups, including the Islamic State group.

Over the past few years since IS lost control of territory it held in Iraq and neighboring Syria, the security situation has stabilized.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fawad Hussein welcomed the resumption of direct flights in a statement and said the two countries were discussing “cooperation in the fields of agriculture, investment and tourism.”

He said a series of recent visits by European leaders to Iraq “reflects the stability the country is experiencing” and “reflects its growing position on the international stage.”