BAGHDAD — Aegean Airlines will become the first European carrier to fly directly to Baghdad when it launches a route from Athens later this year, the Greek foreign minister said on Thursday during a visit to Iraq.

The Greek airline is scheduled to operate its inaugural flight from Athens to the Iraqi capital on 16 December, according to Giorgos Gerapetritis.

The company already flies to Irbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north, but had previously avoided Baghdad over security concerns.

"I think this will substantially boost our people's economic, but also cultural ties," Gerapetritis said at a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

In a statement, Hussein welcomed the move, saying that the two countries were also discussing "cooperation in the fields of agriculture, investment and tourism."

Hussein added that recent visits from European leaders show "the stability the country is experiencing" and "its growing standing on the international stage."

Plans are underway to upgrade Baghdad's international airport. Iraq recently awarded a $764 million (€573 million) contract to expand and operate the airport to a global consortium made up of Corporacion America Airport, a Luxembourg-based airport operator, and Iraqi investment company Amwaj International.

Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on 11 November, with the incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani seeking a second term, something that has rarely been achieved by his predecessors.

After coming to power in 2022 with the support of pro-Iran parties, al-Sudani has subsequently tried to balance his country's relations with Tehran and Washington.

Almost 8,000 candidates — 2,248 women and 5,520 men — will compete for the country's 329 parliamentary seats in the November ballot.

After the US-led invasion toppled the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq contended with a security vacuum and the emergence of armed extremist groups like the so-called Islamic State. — Euronews