A Virtual Visit to Every Country in the Middle East

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Touring the Middle East on Infinite Flight!

Hello IFC!

Recently, I was inspired by @Lotus’s Flying to Every Single Country in Africa challenge, and decided to give it a little spin of my own.

With a total of 30 hours, 16 flights, 13 different airlines, 8 different aircraft, and a whopping 20342 kilometers (direct routing, would be more if flown with realistic flight plans), this will be one big challenge to complete (at least for me, I don’t fly that often on Infinite Flight lmao).

I will definitely consider adding more countries to this challenge, maybe a North Africa/Arab League Challenge in the future if I have time.

Flight Schedule

|Flight Number|Dept. ICAO|Arr. ICAO|Operating Airline|Operating Aircraft|Est. Flight Time|Completed
|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
|GF566|OBBI|OOMS|Gulf Air|A321|1:25|✅
|WY663|OOMS|OTHH|Oman Air|B788|1:10 | ✅
|QR490|OTHH|OIIE|Qatar Airways|A359|1:40| ✅
|IF552|OIIE|ORBI|Fly Baghdad|B737|1:10|✅
|UD141|ORBI|OSDI|UR Airlines|B737 (in place of B733)|1:15|✅
|RB341|OSDI|OKBK|Syrianair|A320|1:45|✅
|J9251|OKBK|OJAI|Jazeera Airways|A320|1:55
|IY649|OJAI|OYAA|Yemenia|A320|3:05
|IY610|OYAA|HECA|Yemenia|A320|3:10
|Unknown|HECA|LVGZ|Palestinian Airlines|CRJ2|0:55
|Unknown|LVGZ|OEJN|Palestinian Airlines|A321 (in place of B727)|1:50
|EK2804|OEJN|OMDB|Emirates|A388|2:15
|FZ755|OMDB|LTFM|FlyDubai|B738|3:50
|TK284|LTFM|OLBA|Turkish Airlines|A333|1:30
|ME271|OLBA|LCLK|Middle Eastern Airlines|A321|0:45
|GF945|LCLK|OBBI|Gulf Air|A321|2:40

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And the journey starts here!

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9 Likes
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Good luck on your challange! The ME has a lot of beautiful and diverse scenery

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Country #1 and #2

Flight: Gulf Air 566
Route: OBBI-OOMS
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Livery: Gulf Air
Flight Time: 1:10

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Bahrain

Fun Fact: Bahrain is the 23rd smallest country in the world, smaller than Mauritius and Comoros but bigger than Singapore. Indeed, in ideal conditions, everything is reachable in less than a 40 minute drive! The Bahrain World Trade Center, located in the capital Manama, is the first skyscraper in the world to incorporate fully-functioning wind turbines in its design.

Oman

Fun Fact: Crime and terrorism in Oman is nearly non-existent. Interestingly, Omanis have a passion for Mountain Dew; when Coca Cola tried to enter the market, their sale numbers plummeted and reached an all-time low.

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Countries Visited: 2/16 (12.5%)
Kilometers Travelled: 827/20342 (4%)

2 countries visited, 14 to go

5 Likes
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This challenge seems more reasonable and achievable than some other challenges. Wish you best luck!

3 Likes
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Thanks! I started off small as this is my first challenge and I don’t fly really often on IF. Will definitely enjoy this one though!

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Country #3

Flight: Oman Air 663
Route: OOMS-OTHH
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8
Livery: Oman Air
Flight Time: 1:15

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Qatar

Fun Fact: Having recently hosted their first F1 race, Qatar is the 33rd nation to do so. Qatar Airways, the popular national airline of Qatar, is one of the biggest airlines in the region and internationally, with its hub, Hamad International Airport, being ranked as the third best in the world. Coming November this year, Qatar will be the first Arab country to host the FIFA World Cup.

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Countries Visited: 3/16 (18.75%)
Kilometers Traveled: 1529/20342 (7.5%)

3 countries visited, 13 to go

3 Likes
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Nice! Don’t forget to include Qatar Airways 😉

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I did a flight with QR a few days ago to Tehran actually, will post the flight details here soon!

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Ah OK, I might a version of this, like in Europe or something it sounds very fun.

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these things sound very fun, maybe il do one where I visit 2 cities in every country in North America

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6 cities? That seems, s m o l

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your counting just the big countries
what about the islands

1 Like
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We are getting off topic, lets not flood someones topic.

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yeah il make my own thread if I decide to do it

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Country #4

Flight: Qatari 490
Route: OTHH-OIIE
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Livery: Qatar Airways
Flight Time: 1:55

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Iran

Fun Fact: While the rest of the Muslim Middle East uses the joint-calendar system, with the solar Gregorian calendar and the lunar Hijri calendar, Iran has its own solar calendar, known as the Jalali calendar, which is currently in year 1400. Weekends in Iran are currently Thursday and Fridays, which was used in the rest of the Middle East as well before shifting to Fridays and Saturdays.

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Countries Visited: 4/16 (25%)
Kilometers Traveled: 2655/20342 (13%)

4 countries visited, 12 to go

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Country #5

Flight: Iraqi 552 (Fly Baghdad callsign missing :/)
Route: OIIE-ORBI
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700
Livery: Generic (Fly Baghdad)
Flight Time: 1:18

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Iraq

Fun Fact: Iraq is well-believed to be where civilization started. While the past century for Iraq was very turbulent, thanks in part to imperial powers, Iraq was home to one of the most prosperous cities during the Islamic Golden Age in Baghdad. Most notably, Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, who invented algebra, lived and worked in Baghdad.

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Countries Visited: 5/16 (31%)
Kilometers Traveled: 3334/20342 (16%)

5 countries visited, 11 to go

1 Like
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Country #6

Flight: Iraqi 141 (UR Airlines callsign also missing :/)
Route: ORBI-OSDI
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700
Livery: Generic (UR Airlines)
Flight Time: 1:15

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Syria

Fun Fact: In a similar situation to Iraq, Syria is unfortunately another war-torn country due to the effects of imperialism. Just like Iraq and other countries in the region, Syria is filled with rich and deep history, with many empires over the years desperate to conquer it. Such empires were the Romans, to be replaced by the Byzantines, then came the Muslims and conquered the area.

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Countries Visited: 6/16 (37.5%)
Kilometers Traveled: 4053/20342 (20%)

6 countries visited, 10 to go

1 Like
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Country #7

Flight: Syrianair 341
Route: OSDI-OKBK
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Livery: Generic (Syrian Airlines)
Flight Time: 1:37

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Kuwait

Fun Fact: Kuwait is a relatively new country, having gained its independence in 1961 from the British. However, Kuwait does have a respectable history behind it. Like many in the region, Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy led by an Emir. Also, foreign workers make up a majority in Kuwait. About 83% of the population live in Kuwait City, the capital city of Kuwait.

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Countries Visited: 7/16 (43.75%)
Kilometers Traveled: 5237/20342 (25.7%)

7 countries visited, 9 to go

1 Like
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When is the next flight? So I can join! :)

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I completed 2 flights which I haven’t posted here yet; Kuwait-Amman and Amman-Aden, so the next one is Aden-Cairo.

Currently I’m not sure when I’ll be doing these flights (not on a schedule really), but I’ll tag you if you’re interested when I’m ready for that flight.