Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whose government strongly opposed the referendum, had threatened on Tuesday to order a halt to all flights serving airports in Iraqi Kurdistan in response to the independence vote.

Turkish carriers Turkish Airlines, Atlas and Pegasus, which offer frequent connections for Iraqi Kurdistan, will halt their flights from Friday, the Turkish consulate in Arbil said.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it would also stop flights to and from Arbil from Friday while EgyptAir announced its flights would also halt that day "until further notice."

"The work has started in order to increase the capacity of the flights" to and from Arbil until Friday, the Turkish consulate in Arbil said in a statement, urging citizens to consider the "circumstances" in their travel planning.

More than 92 percent of Iraq's Kurds voted "Yes" for independence in the referendum, according to the first official results announced on Wednesday, two days after the disputed plebiscite.

Abadi had said he would ban "international flights to and from Kurdistan" from Friday unless the airports in Arbil and the city of Sulaimaniyah were placed under the control of the federal government in Baghdad.

The transport minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Mawloud Bawah Murad, expressed bafflement at the move by Baghdad.

"Arbil and Sulaimaniyah airports were built from the budget of the Kurdistan government," he told a press conference in Arbil.

"We want more clarifications from the Iraqi government on its demand to hand them the two airports, because we don't understand how to give them the two airports, when they are already subject to the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority."

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines chairman Mohammed al-Hout said MEA would work to ensure Lebanese citizens could leave Iraqi Kurdistan through other Iraqi airports.

"We will not leave any Lebanese stranded. They will be able to go to Baghdad, Basra or Najaf as transit points," he said.

Baghdad has reacted with anger to Monday's Kurdish independence vote, with Abadi saying that it must be annulled.

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