Baghdad-Damascus flights to resume after 8 years

Flights between Baghdad and Damascus will resume Saturday after an eight-year hiatus, Iraqi Airways said Thursday. The flights will take place once-a-week, Iraqi Airways spokesman Leys Ruabayi said in statement. The large number of Iraqi nationals in Syria make the flights important, Ruabayi said. Syria hailed announcement in a written statement from its transportation ministry. The last flight from Baghdad to Damascus was in December 2011.