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GULF Air's first flight to Iraq in more than six years touched down in Baghdad to a round of applause.

Flight GF201 took off from Bahrain with more than 90 passengers on board at around 9.45am and landed in the Iraqi capital at 11.30am.

It was the airline's first flight to Baghdad since they were suspended in March 2003, during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

A delegation of government officials, diplomats, businessmen and media were on board, including Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Majali, Bahrain's Ambassador to Iraq Salah Al Malki, Iraq's Ambassador to Bahrain Ghassan Hussain and Civil Aviation Affairs Under-Secretary Captain Abdulrahman Mohammed Al Gaoud.

Mr Majali said "This is great for a new, forward-looking Gulf Air. We were the first and only full-service GCC carrier to operate into Baghdad back in 1976 and we are proud to be serving Iraq once again offering a direct service from our home hub in Bahrain with excellent connections from Europe.

"Iraq has enormous commercial potential for Gulf Air and building on our experience and knowledge of operating there over many years, our aim is to become the market leader operating regular services to five key cities within the country."

Mr Majali also said he welcomed the competition offered by Bahrain Air, which began to the first of its seven weekly flights to Iraq within the next few weeks.

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