Flights resume as Iraq lifts ban on Kurdish region

Описание: (19 Mar 2018) International flights to and from the Iraqi Kurdish region resumed on Monday after federal authority was restored.
An airplane from Dubai was the first commercial flight to land at Erbil International Airport.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced last Tuesday the reopening of Kurdish airports some six months after they were initially shut to international flights following a controversial referendum vote in northern Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region that overwhelmingly backed independence from Baghdad.
The ban heavily affected international travellers and businesses in the landlocked Kurdistan region.
International flights to Erbil airport were expected to gradually resume to their previous full operational schedule within few days.
The Kurdish independence vote last September, though non-binding, was held across the autonomous region's three provinces as well as in some disputed territories controlled by Iraqi Kurdish security forces but claimed by Baghdad.
The referendum was vehemently rejected by Baghdad and Iraq's other neighbors, ratcheting up tensions in the region on the heels of military victories against the Islamic State group.

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