Upon arrival, a celebratory event was held at the airport which saw the attendance of Gulf Air’s chief operations officer captain, Suhail Ismaeel and the airline’s country manager in Iraq Isa Shah along with various dignitaries, a number of local media, travel industry representatives and airport officials.

At the inaugural event in Erbil International Airport, Ismaeel said, “We are happy to return to Erbil and operate direct flights to and from this Iraqi city”. He also added, “With three weekly direct flights between Bahrain and Erbil supplemented with great connectivity through our hub, this destination promises to be a key route within our growing network.”