Direct flights between Kuwait, Iraq

Kuwait's civil aviation authority has granted permission to an Irqai airliner to ply between Kuwait and neighboring Iraq, the official KUNA news agency reported Monday.The company is scheduled to operate two flights a week from Baghdad and two others from southern city of Najaf to Kuwait, the report said, without disclosing the name of the airliners and when the new route will start operation.

Currently, there are a number of foreign private chartered flights between Kuwaiti and Iraqi airports, Fawaz Al-Farah, head of the Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.The direct route would meet the growing demand on air transport between the two countries, he said, adding the oil-rich emirate could play an important role in Baghdad's reconstruction process.

Kuwait's Al-Jazeera Airways has also submitted an request to operate around 20 flights per week to Iraq covering Baghdad, Najafand northern city of Irbil.Kuwait sits atop ten percent of the world's proven oil reserves and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion brought huge damages to the tiny emirate.Kuwaiti officials say the remaining war reparations for damages caused by the invasion are estimated at 24.8 billion U.S. dollars.