Emirates to start Baghdad flights in November

Emirates will start passenger services to Baghdad four times per week. Baghdad will be its second destination in Iraq, the carrier said in a statement on Tuesday. The service, which will operate on a Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, will see Emirates flight EK941 departing Dubai at 7:55am touching down at Baghdad International Airport at 9:40am the same day. At 11:35am, return flight EK942 will depart Baghdad arriving in Dubai at 14:55pm the same day. For Emirates, which launched flights to Basra in Iraq in February this year, Baghdad marks the fifth global destination launch in 2011. With Geneva route launched earlier this month, Emirates will kick off Copenhagen and St Petersburg to August 1 and November 1, respectively. "Baghdad is a strategically important destination for Emirates. Its geographical location, coupled with the fact that few international carriers operate there, makes it the perfect destination for us to tap into and drive revenue from," Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said in a statement.