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Airline Report: Fly Austrian to Iraq

Not that it's an obscure route or anything, but Austrian Airlines just announced that the company will finally start flights from Vienna to Iraq in December. The launch had previously been scheduled for March of 2006. The service includes a bi-weekly flight from Vienna to Erbil, in the Kurdistan region. So far, it looks like they'll be flying an Airbus A319 on the route. Using some sample dates in January, we pulled up a ticket price of €933.30 ($1201).

Iraqi Kurdistan announced plans for a new tourism campaign last month, so officials there should be tickled. Marketing representatives hired by the Kurdistan regional government noted to the press that "Westerners walk around freely and there is an active nightlife," and that while the region "might be close" to the war "in miles, it's a lot further from that in reality." Some think that the campaign was politically motivated rather than inspired by a genuine dedication to boosting tourism--Kurdistan has, after all, sought independence from Iraq in the past.

Drop those Euros at your own risk!

[Photo: bees-knees]

Related Stories:
· Austrian Airlines to fly to northern Iraq as first European commercial carrier [IHT]
· Iraqi Kurdistan launches tourism campaign [USAT]
· Kurdistan - The Other Iraq [Official Site]