ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey will resume flights to Sulaimani International Airport on November 3 after two and a half years of suspension, announced the head of the airport on Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week lifted the flight ban, initially imposed in April 2023 and extended several times, at the behest of Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani.
Rebaz Mohamed, acting CEO of Sulaimani International Airport, confirmed to Rudaw that flights will resume on November 3. He added that there will initially be five flights per week, with daily flights planned at a later stage.
He noted that the suspension has resulted in an estimated loss of five million dollars.
According to Turkey’s national carrier, Turkish Airlines, website, the first flight is scheduled to depart late on November 2 and arrive in Sulaimani early the following day.
Sulaimani airport later said in a statement that Turkey officially lifted the ban on Wednesday.
Turkey imposed a flight ban on the airport on April 3, 2023, in response to an alleged “intensification” of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) activity in Sulaimani province, referring to the crash of two helicopters carrying Syrian Kurdish fighters a month earlier.
Turkish officials have repeatedly accused Sulaimani authorities of supporting the PKK and the flight ban is not the first time Ankara has taken punitive measures against the province.
The Iraqi government recently approved a request to rename the Sulaimani airport after prominent Kurdish figure and late Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.