ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The first passenger plane carrying 120 passengers touched down in the Kurdistan Region's eastern city of Sulaimani on Sunday night, marking the end of a two-and-a-half-year Turkish ban on flights to the city.
"It is a very, very great feeling," Hidayat Salih, a tourist, told Rudaw after he passed Passport Control at the Sulaimani International Airport. "It had been many years that people abroad, especially those in Europe, were waiting for this route to reopen. This route was very necessary to reopen."
Paywand Jaff, a renowned Kurdish singer who was among the passengers, expressed his happiness.
"I have a great feeling because during these two past two years, we had to travel longer hours to reach here. Fortunately, now we can directly land here," Jaff said.
The very same plane returned to Turkery with 105 passengers from Sulaimani. Four weekly flights are scheduled between Turkey and Sulaimani for the month of November. The flights are expected to further increase from December.
"From December 3, AJet airways, which is another Turkish and low-cost airline, will start flights and come to the Sulaimani airport," Zhewar Jalal, manager of a tourism agency, said.
According to official data, flights and movements at the Sulaimani airport had decreased by 35 percent in the course of the past two years and a half due to the suspension of flights between Turkey and Sulaimani.
"Undoubtedly, the president of the Kurdistan Region played a big role. Together with the Kurdistan Regional Government, they were making constant efforts... in order for the flights to resume for the service of our citizens," said Harman Mohammed, chief of staff at Kurdistan Region's Transport and Communications Ministry.
Turkey initially imposed the flight ban on April 3, 2023, citing an alleged “intensification” of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) activity in Sulaimani province. The decision came after two helicopters carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters crashed in the province a month earlier.
In early October, Ankara extended the ban for another three months. However, during that same period, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who was on an official visit to Ankara, raised the issue directly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency in early October expressed gratitude to President Erdogan for lifting the ban, remarking, “This decision comes within the framework of the strong relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Republic of Turkey, which we are confident will be helpful in advancing mutual cooperation and serve the interests of both sides - especially our citizens in Sulaimani province.”
