Photo By Spc. Brittany Gardner | Khalaf Abdul Samad, Basra governor, and Temel Kotil, Turkish Airlines' chief executive...... read more read more
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BASRAH, Iraq – With the red carpet rolled out and velvet ropes unraveled, Basrah International Airport welcomed its first commercial Turkish Airlines flight, June 28.
The airport is ready to receive aircraft from all over the world, said Thair Kadhim, Basrah International Airport deputy Director.
“We are happy to receive such airlines,” said Kadhim. “That means we will open a big window to Europe. Our city is very rich and we have a lot of projects to be executed. We need them - European, American and other companies - to help us execute those projects.”
“Right now, we have only Dubai for the people to move from Basrah to Europe or other countries,” said Kadhim.
Europeans can now save time by traveling on Turkish Airlines instead of traveling through Dubai, which they previously had to do. The airport is now scheduled to receive flights from Turkish Airlines three times a week, on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Turkish Airlines’ decision to fly as far south in Iraq as Basrah is economically important because it provides a gateway for Turkey into Iraq, and also for Iraq into Turkey and the rest of Europe, said Lt. Col. Doug DeVries, 36th Infantry Division Special Troops Battalion commander.
“That means less money, less time,” said Kadhim.
DeVries and the soldiers of the 36th DSTB played a large role in facilitating the economic development of southern Iraq and the Basrah International Airport, said DeVries.
“We’ve been able to work with the Iraqi infrastructure and the Iraqi security forces here in the Basrah area,” said DeVries, “to provide a better amount of security, not only for the civilian population, but also for the military operations that happen jointly out at the Basrah International Airport.”
The addition of the Turkish Airlines flight to the Basrah International Airport is a sign that Basrah’s economy is improving. The planning of future events such as the The 21st Gulf Cup of Nations Soccer tournament, scheduled to be held in Basrah in 2013, is another.
“It is being looked at as sort of a starting point for civilian economic development,” said DeVries, “that will open up the gates to Basrah as a destination for tourism as it once was in the ‘60s,” said DeVries.
The city of Basrah is in the process of improving roads and bridges to facilitate traffic into and out of the stadiums, DeVries explained. The number of tourists from the Gulf region that travel to Basrah for the tournament will be a gauge of success.
“I think that will be a really good point to look at economically to see where this region is going,” said Devries. “I think there’s a lot of potential here.”
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2011 10:54 |
| Story ID: | 73096 |
| Location: | BASRA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 81 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Basrah economic development flies higher: First commercial Turkish Airlines flight lands at Basrah International Airport, by SPC Brittany Gardner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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