BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's national flag carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) said Wednesday it will suspend on Friday flights to and from Irbil airport in northern Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government.
"Iraqi authorities have asked MEA to stop flights from and to Irbil in Kurdistan. The last flight is scheduled on Friday 29th September," MEA head Mohammed al-Hout said.
The Kurdish government in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, staged an independence referendum in the autonomous region and some disputed areas in northern Iraq on Monday, despite strong opposition from the Iraqi central government and the international community.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi threatened on Tuesday to ban "international flights to and from Kurdistan," unless the airports at Irbil and Sulaimaniyah were placed under his government's control.
The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday requested foreign airlines suspend flights to the areas controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government by Friday.
