# Iraqi Airways set to restart Dubai and Istanbul flights as airspace reopens
By IO Digest Desk
On 2026-04-15, Iraq's Transport Ministry said Iraqi Airways would resume flights to Dubai on Thursday and to Istanbul on Saturday, marking another step in the country's return to normal aviation traffic. The announcement came as the Iraqi airspace continued to reopen after weeks of disruption.
Transport Ministry spokesman Maitham al-Safi told the state-run INA agency that air traffic was gradually resuming and that the ministry was working to accelerate operations. The wording suggests a managed restart rather than a full all-at-once reopening, with carriers and regulators bringing routes back online in stages.
Iraqi Airways had already announced the previous week that it would resume domestic and international flights on Friday as part of a phased schedule. The carrier had also resumed flights on 2026-04-10 after technical and operational criteria were completed. That detail matters because it shows the airline was not simply waiting for permission to fly again; it was rebuilding the operating pattern route by route.
The civil aviation authority said Iraq would open its skies to all types of flights beginning 2026-04-08 after a 40-day closure. The airline restart therefore comes after a prolonged interruption, not just a short pause. A 40-day shutdown is long enough to disrupt passenger itineraries, cargo flows and the planning assumptions of carriers that depend on Middle Eastern overflight routes.
The source linked the reopening to a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran that was said to last two weeks. It did not spell out every operational detail behind the reopening, but the sequence of events is clear enough: a closure, a phased reopening, a first domestic and international return on April 10, and now new flights to Dubai and Istanbul.
For Iraqi Airways, the route choices are also notable. Dubai and Istanbul are major regional hubs, so restoring those links quickly helps reconnect Iraqi travelers to two of the busiest transfer points in the Middle East and Europe. The report did not provide frequency or capacity figures, but even a limited return of service is important in a system that has been partially frozen.
The airline's return fits into a broader effort to rebuild aviation traffic after security-related disruption. In such situations, the challenge is not only getting planes back in the air but also restoring confidence among passengers, regulators and partner airports that the route network is stable again.
The practical meaning of the announcement is straightforward: Iraqi Airways is moving back into scheduled international service, and the country's airspace is again carrying commercial traffic after a period of closure. That is the kind of operational news that can look small on paper but matter a great deal to travelers, freight planners and airlines trying to restore regularity.
