Austrian Airlines has delayed the resumption of flights to the Iraqi capital Baghdad by more than two months but will increase its capacity to Erbil. The carrier was due to inaugurate a four-times weekly Vienna – Baghdad service from March 27 but will not now open the link until June 8 and only on a three-times weekly basis. Meanwhile, growing demand to the Northern city of Erbil will see the airline increase its weekly frequency to six flights, with a new Tuesday rotation.
Austrian was one of the first European carriers to resume links to Iraq following the second Gulf War inaugurating flights between Vienna and Erbil in December 2006. The link has proved highly successful with the airline securing a particularly high yield on the route with average fares of more than $470 each way. Turkish Airlines subsequently introduced flights from Istanbul to Baghdad in October 2008 and more recently Lufthansa added a Frankfurt – Erbil link in April 2010. The German carrier also plans to offer a Munich – Baghdad link but operations have not yet commenced.
|
ROUTE ANALYSIS: IRAQ – EUROPE (non-stop flights) |
|||||
|
Airline |
Origin |
Destination |
Type |
Frequency |
Weekly Seats |
|
AtlasJet Airlines |
Istanbul |
Erbil |
A320 |
5 |
870 |
|
Sulaimaniyah |
A320 |
2 |
348 |
||
|
Austrian Airlines |
Vienna |
Baghdad |
A319 |
3 |
396 |
|
Erbil |
A319/A320 |
6 |
814 |
||
|
Lufthansa |
Frankfurt |
Erbil |
A319 |
4 |
528 |
|
Munich |
Baghdad |
B737 |
4 |
744 |
|
|
Turkish Airlines |
Istanbul |
Baghdad |
737-800 |
7 |
1,155 |
|
Viking Hellas |
Amsterdam |
Erbil |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
|
Athens |
Baghdad |
MD-83 |
1 |
161 |
|
|
Erbil |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
||
|
Sulaimaniyah |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
||
|
Malmo Sturup |
Erbil |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
|
|
Stockholm Arlanda |
Baghdad |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
|
|
Erbil |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
||
|
Sulaimaniyah |
A320 |
1 |
162 |
||
|
TOTAL |
39 |
6,150 |
|||
Source: Flightbase (August 14-20, 2011)
Austrian Airlines, its parent Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines are the only European flag carriers to currently offer, or plan flights into Iraq this summer. In total there are just 39 weekly flights planned with the balance being operated by AtlasJet Airlines and on a weekly basis by Viking Hellas Airlines from four European cities to Baghdad, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah. Viking Hellas also offers connections from other European airports, including Manchester in the UK, via its Athens base.
|
MARKET ANALYSIS: O&D TRAFFIC IRAQ– EUROPE (2005 - 2010) |
||
|
Year |
Traffic |
Top Three Airlines (market share) |
|
2005 |
913 |
Royal Jordanian (99.7%); British Airways (0.3%) |
|
2006 |
9,451 |
Austrian Airlines (42.6%); Royal Jordanian (30.0%); Hahn Air (27.1%) |
|
2007 |
26,228 |
Austrian Airlines (83.5%); Royal Jordanian (15.7%); Syrian Air (0.3%) |
|
2008 |
53,216 |
Austrian Airlines (44.2%); AtlasJet Airlines (43.2%); Royal Jordanian (7.0%) |
|
2009 |
175,715 |
AtlasJet Airlines (48.5%), Turkish Airlines (26.5%); Austrian Airlines (17.0%); |
|
2010 |
310,838 |
AtlasJet Airlines (26.8%); Turkish Airlines (22.5%); Viking Airlines (11.1%) |
Source: IATA BSP (January 2005 – December 2010)
The table above clearly shows how the Iraqi market has matured over the past five years, thanks in a big part to Austrian Airlines’ flights and the operations of Royal Jordanian, the only scheduled airline to serve Baghdad during the latter of stage of the Gulf War. In recent years Turkish carriers AtlasJet Airlines and Turkish Airlines have taken on a stronger role and now dominate the traffic.
Related Content
