(Photo: justdial.com)

Iraqi Airways spokesman Layth al-Rubaie said the carrier operated its first flight on Saturday to the Syrian capital of Damascus. He said there will be one flight per week as a start, but the flights can be increased as needed. The Baghdad-Damascus air route is vital to both countries because there is a large community of Iraqis in Syria, in addition to the large volume of bilateral trade, al-Rubaie noted.

Iraqi Airways suspended flights to Syria soon after the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011 in which anti-government demonstrations ignited a bloody civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people.