VORFMD From Austria, joined Feb 2005, 331 posts, RR: 0 Posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2508 times:
on yesterdays printed issue "wirtschaftsblatt", an Austrian economical newspaper, OS mentioned that there are plans to start Service to Iraq by March 06.
Flights are planned to go to Arbil in northern Iraq, 3 x weekly with A319 Aircrafts. As OS is the first European Airline granted traffic rights into Iraq last month that could be a real cash cow.
NYC777 From United States of America, joined Jun 2004, 5160 posts, RR: 49 Reply 1, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2490 times:
Yeah sure just as long as their airplanes don't get shot down by the insurgency! Remember the DHL A300!
A319XFW From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2485 times:
Risky..... We might be seeing 319's with bullet holes in them.....
But seriously, would this get a high enough load factor? At the moment I can't see many people wanting to go to Iraq. But perhaps they will be flying UN employees there, as I believe the UN has got offices in Vienna?
VORFMD From Austria, joined Feb 2005, 331 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2463 times:
Quoting NYC (Reply 1): Yeah sure just as long as their airplanes don't get shot down by the insurgency! Remember the DAHL A!
yes, but that was Baghdad. Northern Iraq seems to be much quieter. Hamburg Airlines already operates Service on behalf of Air Kurdistan/Kurdistan Airways into Arbil and some Turkish Airliners started ops to northern Iraq as well.
Quoting A319XFW (Reply 2): But perhaps they will be flying UN employees there, as I believe the UN has got offices in Vienna?
Vienna has a lot of UN offices and has the the Headquarter of OPEC and IAEO
Lazyshaun From United Kingdom, joined May 2005, 545 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2452 times:
Clever move by Austain there, I guess other European majors have been to scared to try, or just don't see it as a profitable route.
Why is it with the A319 though? Is it because of its range, or will it stop of somewhere in between Arbil and Vienna? Plus not much capacity, although I think they may be testing the route to see how full the flights are.
Does Austria get a lot of Middle East traffic? I suppose LHR and FRA are so packed full of traffic on these routes, it is hard to get them any more.
Austrian should try getting a route from Iraq to Iran and back, as this area is also lacking in European traffic. Do Iran Air fly to FRA? I know they do LHR at leat once daily.
Anyway, well done Austrian, I hope they go through with it, and make money from it.
Quoting Lazyshaun (Reply 4): Is it because of its range, or will it stop of somewhere in between Arbil and Vienna? Plus not much capacity, although I think they may be testing the route to see how full the flights are.
The A319 can do it , but IF it happens its mainly because the demand is not that big, but Yield should be great.
Halibut From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2382 times:
Quoting VORFMD (Reply 3): yes, but that was Baghdad. Northern Iraq seems to be much quieter. Hamburg Airlines already operates Service on behalf of Air Kurdistan/Kurdistan Airways into Arbil and some Turkish Airliners started ops to northern Iraq as well.
Indeed ,
It is this part of Iraq which has been protected by the US & Brits from the early 90's to present . It's the Sunni Triangle " a snake pit " which is most dangerous & where the vast majority of bombing occur .
This is certainly good news for the Iraqi people .
There is no part of Iraq that is one hundred percent safe, but New Fields chose Arbil as the location of its April 26-29 Expo due to its role as the heart of a region of the country that has enjoyed considerable autonomy for more than a decade. Since the 1991 Gulf War, American protection has enabled northern Iraq to develop a vibrant economy independent of Ba’athist control. During preliminary visits to Arbil earlier this year, New Fields representatives were overwhelmed by the high level of pro-American sentiment in the city.
Despite Arbil’s reputation as one of the safest cities in the country, security remains a major concern for New Fields. The company is working closely with the Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraqi government agencies, and other relevant authorities to maintain a safe environment.
A342 From Germany, joined Jul 2005, 4655 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2365 times:
I have a question here. http://worldaerodata.com and http://gc.kls2.com only show an airport called "Erbil Intl (Irbil Nothwest)", having the ICAO code ORER. No IATA code is listed, can this be right ?
Quoting Lazyshaun (Reply 4): BTW, could an A320/321 make this journey?
Zvezda From Lithuania, joined Aug 2004, 10511 posts, RR: 65 Reply 9, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2294 times:
I wonder how many people will go just to get a stamp in their passport. I would consider a short trip if I spoke better Arabic. It would be interesting to see what life is like there.
SULUK From Switzerland, joined Jul 2005, 115 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2281 times:
SAS already wanted to start a weekly service to BSR (Basra) in SEP 2003 using a 767 A/C. The flight was already in the CRS but for some reason, can't remember why, it was never started... AFAIK approval from the government was already given at that time (also to LOT and BA).
AirbusfanYYZ From Canada, joined Oct 2002, 1406 posts, RR: 29 Reply 12, posted (7 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 2155 times:
Quoting A319XFW (Reply 2): At the moment I can't see many people wanting to go to Iraq.
There has always been a decent amount of pilgrim traffic visiting the cities Najaf, Karbala etc. even during the Saddam era.
I would imagine they would appreciate having a flight into Iraq as opposed to taking the long arduous road trip from Amman.
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