Low-cost Dubai-based carrier Flydubai will start flights to Erbil on 16 July.

It will be the airline’s twenty-second destination since it began operations in 2009.

Erbil is located in northern Iraq and is currently developing its hotels, tourism and healthcare facilities.

In 2009, the UAE was the main foreign investor in Iraq and is set to double its investment in the country to AED22bn over the next three years.

Flydubai started flying to Latakia on 20 June, Istanbul on 17 June, Colombo in Sri Lanka on 23 June and Karachi on 21 June (MEED 6:5:10).

Dubai government is set to more than double budget carrier Flydubai’s capital to AED500m ($136.1m).

The government-owned airline currently has a capital of AED220m and the extra capital will help it with its aims to expand its network and increase its fleet.