Emirates, Etihad suspend flights to Baghdad

Baghdad: Bullets hit a passenger jet operated by budget carrier Dubai Aviation Corp, known as flydubai, as it was landing at Baghdad airport, the company and officials said on Tuesday. An aviation official and a security official told Reuters that two passengers were slightly injured when three or four bullets hit the body of the plane on Monday evening but they were unable to specify the source of the gunfire. Flydubai, Emirates Airlines, Sharjah’s Air Arabia and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways suspended flights following the incident, in line with a directive from the United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation authority. “After landing at Baghdad International Airport (BGW) on January 26, 2015, damage to the aircraft fuselage consistent with small arms fire was discovered on flydubai flight FZ 215,” a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson denied that any passengers had required medical treatment and said an investigation was underway. The aviation official said Iraq had briefly suspended air traffic on Monday following the incident but that most flights had resumed on Tuesday morning. -Khaleej Times