BAGHDAD RETURNS TO MAP OF GLOBAL AIRLINES

Baghdad is getting back on the map of international airlines after 20 years of violence as the prospect of multibillion oil deals lures business travellers. Gone are the days of hair-raising cork-screw landings – dubbed death spirals – as the bloodshed has ebbed from a peak of sectarian warfare in 2006 and 2007, though bombings and suicide attacks still occur regularly across Iraq. Several foreign airlines started or announced plans to fly to Baghdad in recent months as firms slowly come back to Iraq seven years after a US-invasion, attracted by oil contracts and infrastructure projects. So far 12 mostly Arab carriers connect Baghdad with Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Bahrain, Jordan, Iran and other countries in the region, according to airport officials. The latest destinations are Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.