‘Boarding now for Baghdad’ ` BMI prepares to reopen air links with Iraq
By Simion Calder, Travel editor
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Independent/UK
The departure boards at Heathrow could soon be augmented by the return
of a city that fell off the airline map 18 years ago: Baghdad. Even
though the Foreign Office warns against all travel to the Iraqi
capital, one of Britain’s leading airlines hopes to launch a link from
London within a year.
"BMI is ready and willing to re-establish air links between Heathrow
and Baghdad," said Nigel Turner, the airline’s chief executive. He has
met senior Iraqi government officials in a bid to secure rights for the
route: "The ability to travel by air between Heathrow and Baghdad is
vital in supporting the considerable energy going into bringing
business ties and investment back to normality," said Mr Turner.
BMI, which is the second-biggest airline at Heathrow, already serves a
number of "niche" destinations in the region, including Yerevan in
Armenia and Aleppo in Syria. It has shifted away from highly
competitive short-haul European and long-haul transatlantic services to
"mid-haul" links where it faces few rivals. From Heathrow to Bishkek in
Kyrgyzstan, for example, the lowest return fare is £599, about twice
the rate for a flight to Boston, which is the same distance from
London. Fares to Baghdad are likely to be higher still.
BMI will target business, government and NGO travellers, as well as
"VFR" traffic ` people visiting friends and relations. It will also
capitalise on its membership of the Star Alliance, with airlines such
as Air Canada and United of the US transferring passengers at Heathrow.
The airline is likely to have the route to itself, at least initially.
A spokeswoman for British Airways said the company had "no current
plans" to return to the route it abandoned in 1991. A spokeswoman for
the leading flight specialist, Trailfinders, said: "We’ve not
registered any significant level of enquiries for travel to Iraq."
Before BMI begins services to Baghdad, the UK government will need to
rescind its existing ban on direct links between the two countries. In
addition, safety concerns about the airport must addressed to the
satisfaction of the airline’s security officials.
The only UK tour operator to Iraq is Hinterland Travel, which ran its
first trip to the country in March. The company’s founder, Geoff Hann,
said he had already taken bookings for next year.