By Mahmoud al-Husseini

CAIRO

Egypt’s national carrier EgyptAir will resume flights to the city of Erbil, the administrative capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region next month, following an almost six-month hiatus.  

In a statement on Saturday, EgyptAir chairman Sherif Ezzat said the flagship carrier would fly three flights a week to Erbil as of April 13.  

The number of flights to Erbil will increase to four a week as of Sept. 16, he said.  

EgyptAir suspended all flights to Erbil against the backdrop of a severe falling-out between Baghdad and the Erbil-based Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) caused by the latter’s decision to hold an unconstitutional referendum on regional independence.  

In the wake of the Sept. 25 poll, Baghdad imposed a raft of punitive measures on the KRG, including a ban on international flights into and out of the Kurdish region; closure of all the region’s international border crossings; and the deployment of federal forces in parts of the country said to be “disputed” between Baghdad and Erbil.  

Earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the international flight ban on the region would be lifted before the Nevruz spring festival on March 21.