A 48-seat Embraer ERJ 145 leased by Turkey’s Fly Air on December 9 opened twice-weekly scheduled service to Erbil, the administrative capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Fly Air became the first Turkish carrier to fly regular service into Kurdistan, long at odds with Ankara over its treatment of the Kurdish minority in Turkey. The following day the airline began flying one of its two McDonnell Douglas MD-83s on scheduled service to the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah. Founded in 2002, privately owned Fly Air leases 13 jets, ranging in size from the Embraer RJs to Airbus A300s.