Baghdad welcomed its first direct European flight in more than three decades, marking what officials described as a historic milestone for Iraq’s aviation sector.

On Tuesday, Iraq’s transport ministry announced that a plane operated by Greece’s Aegean Airlines had landed at Baghdad International Airport — the first European aircraft to do so since the early 1990s.

The ministry hailed the event as “Iraq’s return to the European aviation map” and the beginning of “a new phase of recovery for Iraq’s aviation sector.”

For decades, European carriers avoided Baghdad due to security concerns following Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the subsequent U.S.-led war in 2003, and years of civil conflict and extremist violence.

Now, with Iraq seeking stability and foreign investment, the government is working to re-establish international connections. The new Baghdad–Athens–Baghdad route will run twice weekly, with the possibility of expansion depending on demand.

Earlier this year, Aegean Airlines also launched flights to Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, which has positioned itself as a relatively stable hub compared to the rest of the country.