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BREAKING NEWS: Kurdistan Regional Government agree to return airports and border crossings to Iraqi Government

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Erbil, Baghdad reach preliminary accord on Kurdish airports

Kurdish and Iraqi delegates have agreed for the Kurdistan Region airports to come under Iraqi civil aviation authority, one of a list of recommendations to be presented to the Iraqi government for approval.

Hours-long meetings between high-level representatives of the KRG and Iraqi government in Erbil on Monday developed the recommendations to resolve issues between the two administrations, such as the international flight ban.

The international airports of Erbil and Sulaimani will come under “Iraqi Civil Aviation Law” and will follow all instructions and regulations released by the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA), read the minutes of the meetings obtained by Rudaw.

Under the agreement, the two airports will follow the directions of the ICAA with regard to inbound and outbound flights and will not allow “any airplane to land or take off without the approval of the Civil Aviation.”

The delegates proposed that the ICAA will assign permanent representatives from the air transport and air safety department to the airports. Erbil and Sulaimani airports will also follow the fee system introduced by Iraq in 2008 and will provide their monthly revenue data to the ICAA.

There will also be monthly meetings between the ICAA and the airport directors in order to ensure communication and resolve problems.

“A coordinator will be assigned from the Erbil and Sulaimani airports to facilitate communication with the Civil Aviation Authority,” the minutes explained, adding that the coordinator will have a permanent presence in the ICAA.

The two sides will present these recommendations to the Iraqi government for approval, the minutes read, adding that some of the teams present on Monday have yet to finish their work, and will file their reports with Baghdad when ready.

Earlier in the day, Rudaw sources had stated that the two sides reached an initial agreement to lift the ban on international flights to and from the Kurdistan Region, pending approval from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

The Secretary General of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, Mahdi al-Alaq, who headed the Iraqi delegation,  told the Kurdish side that PM Abadi wants to “study the outstanding problems in a constructive way and based on the principles of the Iraqi constitution and the federal laws,” according to the minutes.

KRG’s Interior Minister Karim Sinjari, head of the Kurdish team, expressed his hope they could find solutions to all the problems that were discussed during the meetings that included five focused discussions on the issues of “security, borders, airports, customs, border entries, dams, and oil.”

Some of the solutions recommended need the approval of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, according to a statement from the Kurdish delegation released following their visit to Baghdad over the weekend.

The airports were already under ICAA regulation prior to the international flight ban. Director general of Erbil airport, Talar Faiq, told diplomats in the Kurdistan Region last October, “We have always been regulated by the ICAA, we have always been responsive to their requests – only three weeks ago a team from Baghdad came to look at the cargo operation.”

The new proposals agreed on Monday appear to increase ICAA direct oversight.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Hours in, travel ban already taking financial toll, travelers stranded

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Empty Erbil airport

Empty Erbil airport after the flight ban came into effect Friday at 6pm. Photo: A.C. Robinson/Rudaw

By A.C. Robinson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The travel ban imposed on Kurdistan’s international airports in Erbil and Sulaimani is already taking a financial toll on revenue coming into the Kurdistan Region as well as causing problems for passengers, just hours after the ban came into effect, Friday at 6 pm.

“Today all scheduled flights went normally until 6 pm. We were hoping the situation would change but we didn’t get any information from Baghdad so all international flights have been suspended,” said Talar Faeq, general director of Erbil’s airport.

Faeq said the airport reserves the right to review their capability for the operation of the airport.

“As you can see, everything has stopped except the domestic flights,” she said. “Now we must accept this fact.”

Faeq said the airport will stop receiving revenue from airlines, which will have an immediate impact on the Kurdistan Region.

“At the same time, we’re not receiving any money from Iraqi Airways for landing or passenger tax, which has now accumulated and reached $33 million,” she explained.

Erbil’s airport serves between 50 and 60 flights and between 5,000 to 5,500 passengers per day, bringing in an estimated daily revenue of $350,000, Faeq said.

She stressed that the travel ban would not affect the jobs of any employees, however.

“This is not a reasonable decision for anyone. Not just for the airport, not for the normal citizens, not for our employees, and it’s not serving humanitarian issues.” she said. “I think it needs to be reviewed again.”

Earlier in the day, just an hour before the ban was to go into effect, Nishtiman Youth Network (NYN) organized a peaceful protest at both Erbil and Sulaimani airports.

Hundreds of protesters attended the event. holding messages such as ‘beauty’, ‘dreams’, ‘happy’, ‘energy’, ‘patience’, ‘positive’, and ‘independence’ – attaching the motivational words in both Kurdish and English to hundreds of balloons.

The organizers from NYN read a statement addressed to the international community in Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, and English just before the balloons were released into the air.

Source: http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/290920179

Israel intensify attack on Syria, A missiles hit near Damascus International Airport: Syria media

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Israel attack SyriaA huge explosion that rocked the area of Damascus International Airport was caused by Israeli missiles targeting a “military position,” according to Syria’s SANA news agency.

“A military position southwest of Damascus International Airport was targeted at dawn today by an Israeli aggression using several missiles fired from occupied territory, sparking explosions in the area,” SANA said Thursday, citing a military source.

Footage emerged of burning fuel or gas at fuel tanks and an ammunition depot in the airport’s compound early on Thursday, according to reports.

“The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus,” said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Lebanon’s Al-Manar television channel had earlier reported that the explosion and fire were likely caused by an Israeli airstrike.

There have been no reports of casualties so far.

Israeli warplanes have targeted the Damascus airport and other bases around the capital in the past. The airport was hit by Israeli airstrikes in December 2014.

The Israeli regime does not usually confirm or deny the raids it conducts on Syrian soil.

Huge explosion rocks Damascus airport

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A large explosion has hit an area near Damascus international airport, BBC reports citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based monitoring group.

The airport lies about 25 km (15 miles) south-east of Syria’s capital.

The blast was reportedly followed by a large fire. There is no word on casualties. The cause is unclear. According to the report by RIA Novosti, the fire broke out in the warehouse near the airport, which could have been caused by Israeli airstrikes.

There is no official comment from the Syrian or Israeli governments, Al Jazeera reports.

Second Armenian air carrier to fly to/from Gyumri

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Armenia’s general department of civil aviation and Taron-Avia have reached an agreement, according to which the latter will implement flights to and from Gyumri, with its primary operational base at Shirak airport.

Armenia’s second certified air carrier, Taron-Avia will launch activity in Gyumri, set to create new jobs and contribute to the development of economy and tourism in the region.

According to planespotters.net, Taron-Avia possesses three Boeing-737 aircraft.

Starting from January 1, Shirak airport cut the prices for air navigation services by 50% to attract more airlines and boost the development of the facility.

Shirak is an international airport serving Gyumri and the province of Shirak, Armenia. It is located about 5 km from the center of Gyumri. It is the second largest airport in the country after Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport.

Iraqi forces liberate Mosul airport from Daesh: Media reports

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Government troops and local fighters took control of the city’s airport as they fought to push “Islamic State” out of their last stronghold in the city. Losing Mosul could spell the end of IS’ power in the country.

The Iraqi military said on Thursday that special forces were closing in on “Islamic State” (IS) terrorists in the city of Mosul. State television reported that government soldiers had stormed the airport and a military complex in the western half of the city. Later, the army confirmed that it had taken control of the airport.

“The Rapid Response Forces and federal police are fully in control of the airport of Mosul,” state television proclaimed. The news came after hours of fierce firefights between coalition forces and the extremists.

“Our forces started a major operation early this morning to storm the airport of Mosul and the Ghazlani base to dislodge Daesh (IS) terrorists. We can confirm that the Mosul airport militarily has fallen and it’s a matter of short time to fully control it,” said Sabah al-Numan, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism service.

Some officials later told the Associated Press that some soldiers from the US-led coalition were amongst the advancing troops, but did not say which country they came from. On Lebanese television, live footage from the perimeter of the airport showed a military helicopter firing on IS targets amid blasts of gunfire.

At Ghazlani, heavy clashes continued into Thursday afternoon. But according to Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, Iraqi forces had been able to enter the base and hoped to take it soon.

The end of the “caliphate”?

Since successfully ousting the extremist fighters from eastern Mosul last month, the Iraqi army has sought to control the airport as a base for finally pushing IS out of the country’s second-largest city.

IS overran Mosul in June 2014, when a lack of troops and infighting among military personnel led to the abandonment of the city. Under IS occupation, the city has experienced a number of atrocities including ethnic cleansing of Christians, human trafficking mostly of young women, and the destruction of ancient heritage sites such as the tomb of the Old Testament prophet Jonah.

A 100,000 strong coalition of government troops, Kurdish fighters and local militias, backed by the US airstrikes, has made rapid

advances in retaking the city since January. If IS loses its territory in Mosul, that may well herald the end of the terrorists’ self-styled caliphate which at its peak straddled large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Taking the western half of the city is likely to pose more of a challenge, however, as its roads are narrower and older than in the east – soldiers will likely be forced to abandon their armored vehicles and fight in the streets.

es/se (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Armenia: Zvartnots airport passenger traffic grew by 12% in 2016

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2012 Zvartnots airport navigation system ranked number 1 with international compliance standard.

The passenger traffic at Yerevan’s Zvartnots international airport soared by 12% in 2016 as compared to the previous year.

In all the Armenian airports, the traffic grew by 10.4% in January-December 2016, up by around 200.000 passengers overall.

According to the General Department of Civil Aviation, 2.105.540 passengers have used the services of the airport in the reporting period.

In 2016, 18.269 tons of cargo has been transported, up by 80.4% against 2015.

It might surprise many of the Armenian Diaspora used to hearing about institutional shortcomings in Armenia’s government services, but the aviation regulator (the General Department of Civil Aviation, and air traffic control agency ARMATS is comparable or better than many of the world’s developed nations, according to the UN’s aviation watchdog, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  Both Armenian agencies are based at Zvartnots International Airport, Yerevan.

 

Russia airline to conduct flights to, from Gyumri international airport

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russian-airline-gyumriYEREVAN. – Pobeda Airlines of Russia will start flights to and from Shirak International Airport in Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia.

According to the agreement reached with this airline, the latter will be conducting flights between Shirak International Airport in Gyumri and Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, starting from late November, and three times a week, informed the Armenian Government-Affiliated General Department of Civil Aviation.

The ticket prices for this flight will start from 10,000 drams (approx. US$21).

The flights will be conducted during daytime.

Breaking News: Explosions Rock Main Airport in Istanbul

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Explosion IstanbulBy CEYLAN YEGINSU and SABRINA TAVERNISE,

ISTANBUL — Two explosions at Turkey’s largest airport left at least 10 people dead and injured as many as 20 people on Tuesday night, according to Turkish authorities and television reports.

The Turkish justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, said 10 people had been killed in a bombing attack on Ataturk airport. He said that one attacker fired an automatic weapon before blowing himself up.

Another Turkish government official said that the police fired shots at two suspected attackers at the entryway to the airport’s international terminal, in an effort to stop them before they reached the building’s security checkpoint. The two suspects then blew themselves up, the official said.

CNN Turk reported that one suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the terminal building and another outside in a parking lot.

NTV reported that airport workers were streaming out of the building, crying. A witness told CNN Turk that injured people were being taken away in taxis, Reuters reported.

Turkey has been rocked by a series of bombings in recent months. Officials have variously blamed Kurdish separatists or Islamic State militants for the attacks.

Ataturk airport has expanded in recent years and is now the third busiest in Europe, ranked by the annual number of passengers, after Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

China: Explosion Shakes Shanghai’s Pudong Airport

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explosion airportAccording to media reports, explosion occurs at Shanghai’s Pudong airport.

An explosion occurred at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Sunday, local media reported.

The explosion, which occurred on Sunday afternoon, injured at least one person, according to the CCTV broadcaster.

The police were deployed at the scene, the broadcaster said.

The information has not yet been officially confirmed, but other Chinese media reported the possible explosion, which might have been caused by pyrotechnics, at the airport, citing authorities.