Saudi budget-carrier flynas launched the first direct flight between the kingdom and Iraq since the Gulf War 27 years ago, marking another move by the kingdom to improve ties with its neighbor in an attempt to blunt rival Iran’s vast influence there.
The carrier posted on its Twitter account an image of the crew that took part in the inaugural flight, which took off from Riyadh bound for Baghdad just before noon, the Washington Post reported.
“We worked hard to see that flynas flights to the brotherly nation of Iraq are operational as quickly as possible in order to connect the two brotherly nations economically and socially after a 27-year-long break,” flynas CEO Bandar al-Muhanna said in a statement.
