Iraq to resume flights gradually as suspended tickets remain valid

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Transport Ministry said Monday that flights will gradually resume to all destinations, adding that tickets affected by wartime disruptions remain valid and can be reused.

Ministry spokesperson Maytham al-Safi told the state news agency that “tickets for flights that were stopped or postponed due to the war conditions are still valid and can be reused by reviewing booking offices inside and outside Iraq to reactivate them.”

He added that “the Iraqi Airways Company experienced a complete slowdown due to the suspension of flights during the past period,” noting that “the next phase will witness a gradual return to all destinations.”

Al-Safi said the company is working to reduce operational expenses and develop a plan to increase and improve the number of flights to restore balance after the suspension period. He emphasized that “what happened was a decline in revenues, not a loss.”

The resumption follows the reopening of Iraq’s airspace on April 8, when authorities announced “the airspace and all Iraqi airports will be reopened starting today,” ending a closure that had been in place since Feb. 28 for 38 days.

The shutdown was imposed after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional security concerns, leading to repeated extensions of the closure and the suspension of all commercial flights. The closure grounded travelers, stranded thousands of Iraqis abroad and disrupted the aviation and tourism sectors before the recent ceasefire allowed operations to restart.