Iran and Iraq are planning to resume direct flights soon between Tehran and Baghdad after a break of 21 years, according to a senior Iraqi diplomat in Tehran. The move would facilitate the passage of Iranian pilgrims, with up to 60,000 Iranians each year travelling to the southern Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala to visit sacred Shi'ite Muslim shrines. Iraqi Airways, meanwhile, says that its internal flights between Baghdad, Basra and Mosul are operating normally despite the international crisis. Taiwanese airlines are hoping to receive clearance to overfly China on flights to and from Europe, following a recent meeting between officials. The Beijing authorities said they did not object to overflights which would provide major cost savings and reduce flight times. Antwerp-based VLM Airways and German airline Eurowings have signed a codeshare agreement on flights between Mönchengladbach and London City. VLM operates the flight with a Fokker 50. Finnair will begin serving Stockholm Skavsta with six weekly flights under a codeshare with Golden Air. Hong Kong will be added to Finnair's network in February with three weekly flights via Bangkok. ScotAirways has begun operating three times daily flights between London City and Aberdeen under a codeshare with British European. KLM has begun codesharing on MaerskAir's three daily flights between Billund and Amsterdam. French carrier Regional is beginning direct flights between Bordeaux and Dublin in a codeshare with Air France. BMI British Midland is to retain four daily flights between London Heathrow and Belfast International after starting daily services to Belfast City. In December BMI will suspend recently launched services from Heathrow to Rome and Barcelona. Augsburg Airways has begun services between London City and Munich with the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 following Joint Aviation Authorities approval for the 70-seater to fly from the docklands airport.
Source: Flight International
