Manama, Bahrain, Gulf Air will resume its services to Iran and Iraq from 20 September 2012 following the Bahrain Government’s approval.

Flights to Baghdad, Erbil, Najaf and Basra in Iraq and Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan in Iran will begin progressively between 20 September and 28 October 2012 subject to final approvals by the civil aviation authorities of the respective countries.

Announcing the news today, Samer Majali's Gulf Air's chief executive officer said, “We are glad to be resuming our operations to Iran and Iraq.  I am sure this will be a welcoming news for thousands of Iranians and Iraqis living and working in Bahrain and the GCC countries as well as the business community for whom the direct flights will be a great advantage.”

“We were the first and only full-service GCC carrier to operate into Baghdad back in 1976.  Again, we were the first carrier to restart our operations in 2009, which received overwhelming support from travellers with most of our flights flying to full capacity. However we had to suspend the flights in 2011 due to unavoidable circumstances but were confident that we will resume our operations soon. I am glad the time has come and we look forward to the same support from our customers.”

Flight schedule for Iraq

• Najaf – from 20 September with four weekly flights increasing to daily from 01 December
• Baghdad- from 21 September with five weekly flights 
• Erbil - from 23 September with four weekly flights increasing to daily from 28 October 
• Basra - from 29 October with three weekly flights increasing to four from 01 December

Flight schedule for Iran

• Mashhad - from 22 September with four weekly flights increasing to daily from 02 December
• Shiraz- from 23 September with five weekly flights increasing to daily from 01 December
• Tehran- from 25 September with six weekly flights increasing to daily from 01 December
• Isfahan - from 30 October with three weekly flights 

The above flights will be operated by a combination of Embraer and Airbus fleet.