BA hoping to resume Iraq flights
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Airways is in talks with the UK government to restart scheduled services to Baghdad after flights were suspended 13 years ago.
Europe's biggest airline flew to the capital for more than 60 years until the 1991 Gulf war. Imperial Airways, one of BA's forerunners, first began services to Iraq in 1929.
"We are in talks with the UK government to resume scheduled flights from London to Bagdhad. We have been in talks with the UK government about this for some time," a company spokesman told CNN on Monday.
BA, the only UK airline with permission under a 1951 treaty between the two countries to fly to Iraq, plans to operate a Boeing 767 aircraft three times a week to Baghdad from London Heathrow.
The company hopes to "start services as soon as possible," the spokesman said.
But sources told CNN flights could start in October.
The route could be lucrative for BA as it flies out doctors, nurses, aid and reconstruction workers to the country. Its flight to Pristina in Kosovo has proved successful, as aid has been flown into the country.
But BA's rival Virgin Atlantic has also said it would like to start humanitarian services into Baghdad International Airport. British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who owns 49 percent of Virgin Atlantic, is expected to ask for a licence to fly to Baghdad.
That could force the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to choose one of the two airlines.
