Emirates touched down in Baghdad, marking its first flight to the capital city of Iraq. On landing in Baghdad the aircraft received a water-cannon salute before local Iraqi media attended an official welcoming ceremony and press conference inside the airport terminal.

The number of affluent Chinese tourists and business people visiting Copenhagen will increase substantially next year when Air China opens a non-stop service between Copenhagen and Beijing. SAS already flies to Beijing and will resume non-stop flights to Shanghai in March 2012.

Mt Cook is set to become the 28th domestic destination on Air New Zealand’s network with the airline announcing today the trial of a new Christchurch/Mt Cook/Queenstown route in the summer of 2012-2013.

Emirates has been welcomed in Russia’s ‘Northern Capital’ yesterday after the airline’s inaugural flight arrived from Dubai.

With the introduction of this timetable, Turkish Airlines will launch its first scheduled flights from Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport to London’s Gatwick Airport, its third airport in the London area.  The Istanbul-based carrier was recently recognised by the World Travel Awards as offering Europe’s Leading Airline Business Class.

SAS is giving its customers 21 new destinations to choose from when the 2012 summer schedule comes into operation in March next year.