Iraq and Russia resumed air services on Sept. 17 for the first time since 2004, as stability starts to return to the war-torn country. (AFP Photo)

BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iraq and Russia restored scheduled commercial airline services on Sunday for the first time since 2004, as stability returns to the war-torn country, Iraqi Airways source said.

An Iraqi Airways plane left Baghdad at 10:31 a.m. (0731 GMT) and was expected to arrive at Moscow's Vnukovo airport at 2:19 p.m. (1119 GMT), Iraqi Airways said.

It is a signal on the part of the Iraqi authorities that Russian nationals can safely visit Iraq, it said.

The two countries may also later agree on air travel to the Iraqi city of Basra, the source added.

Russia suspended regular flights to Iraq in 2004 after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 plunged the Arab country into war.