Greek carrier Viking Hellas has started scheduled flights from Manchester to Athens, as well as several services to destinations in Iraq.
The new airline - a subsidiary of charter carrier Viking Airlines - commenced three times-weekly flights (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from Manchester to the Greek capital on February 1, and plans to increase this to four times per week from the start of March.
The carrier has also launched weekly scheduled services to Erbil, Sulaymanyiah and Baghdad in Iraq, and says that timings have been designed to provide onward connection opportunities for UK passengers looking to reach Iraq.
Commenting on the new routes Roger Gatt, Commercial Director of Viking Hellas said: "There is considerable demand for Iraqi services from the UK due to the sizeable expatriate community that currently has very few options to return home; this new service is a lifeline for them.
"Viking Airlines AB has operated flights from Sweden to the country for a number of years without incident and we are pleased to be providing another option for travellers to Iraq."
Lufthansa recently announced that it is "examining the possibility of launching several new services to Iraq", with planned routes from Frankfurt and Munich to Baghdad and Erbil.
www.flyviking.gr