Fasten your seat belts for Baghdad
ALASTAIR JAMIESON
CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
GLASGOW is about to be linked to Baghdad, with a Scottish airline planning the first direct passenger flights between Britain and the Iraqi capital for more than 15 years.
Air Scotland has signalled a twice-weekly service to Baghdad - leaving from Glasgow and calling at London Stansted - starting in November.
The low-cost carrier, whose chairman is the Iraq-born Glasgow businessman Dhia Al-Ani, hopes to use a 300-seater Lockheed TriStar L1011 aircraft for the service - a plane that ceased production 21 years ago.
The Department for Transport said it was "surprised" by the plans, which come a week after a civilian helicopter was shot down near Baghdad with the loss of 11 lives.
There was scepticism yesterday that the service would get off the ground. Air Scotland has suffered cancellations, delays and operational crises since it began flying two years ago.
But the airline, which usually flies to destinations such as Palma and Alicante, said it was "confident" and would also operate a weekly flight to the northern city of Arbil.
Raymond McMillan, operations director for Air Scotland, said: "Obviously there are issues still to be worked out, but we believe there is a very strong demand for travel in both directions. There is a lot of business traffic between Britain and Iraq right now as the rebuilding work continues.
"We will continue to operate our short-haul European services from Scotland with our existing Boeing 757."
All the flights would start in Scotland because the airline has maintenance facilities at Glasgow Airport. "The bulk of the traffic will be from London but it will be possible to book through from Glasgow to Baghdad if that is what people want."
He added that the airline could also start flights from Stansted to Lahore or Bangkok if there was sufficient demand.
Air Scotland is the trading name of Greece Airways, which is in the process of buying a second-hand L1011.
The London-based Iraqi Community Association said the service would be welcomed by the 250,000 Iraqis living in Britain who want to visit.
Mahamad al-Shagra, an exiled Iraqi journalist living in Scotland, said: "This would be very useful. At the moment the journey involves flying to Jordan or Syria and crossing by land, which is quite dangerous.
"Most refugees are not allowed to go back to Iraq but those who have been naturalised in Britain may be able to go back and visit, and this will make it much easier for them.
"I hope it will have calmed down in Iraq by November."
The announcement was also welcomed by tourism leaders. Nancy McLardie, of the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: "I am sure there are plenty of things in Glasgow to attract visitors from Baghdad. This route is yet another way for visitors to discover what Glasgow has to offer."
A VisitScotland spokesman said: "If this new service leads to an increase in visitors from the Middle East then thats something wed certainly welcome.
"We have found that visitors from places such as Kuwait, for instance, find our cooler climate a pleasing aspect of visiting Scotland, which points to this market being the exception to the rule in many ways.
Air Scotland suffered serious problems in its first few weeks of operation in 2003, including the termination of its contract with a plane supplier, Electra Airlines. The split left two £30 million aircraft impounded at Edinburgh and Glasgow in a dispute over landing fees.
More recently, expansion plans were dropped after problems securing a new aircraft.
