Dubai: Emirates airline is to stop flights to Arbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region, in northern Iraq as Iraqi and Kurdish forces struggle to counter militants controlling large areas of the country.
“Flights to Arbil, Iraq will be suspended effective August 12, 2014 for operational reasons,” an Emirates spokesperson told Gulf News in an emailed statement.
It is unclear when flights to Arbil will resume, however, Emirates will continue operations to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and to Basra, in the country’s south.
The decision follows last week’s comments from Emirates President Tim Clark that the airline is planning to stop using Iraqi airspace following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile last month.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants have declared large areas of northern and western Iraq under their control.
“Emirates is taking precautionary measures and is currently working on alternative routing for flights using Iraqi airspace,” the airline said last month.
On Monday, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered Iraq’s air force to support Kurdish forces fighting Isil militants.
