Iraqi Airways

Iraqi Airways

IATA IA ICAO IAW Callsign IRAQI
Founded	1945
Commenced operations	29 January 1949
Bases	Baghdad International Airport Al Najaf International Airport Basra International Airport Queen Alia International Airport
Fleet size	10 (+52 orders)
Destinations	22 (+2 planned)
Parent company	Iraqi Government
Headquarters	Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq
Key people	Kifah H. Jabbar (CEO) [1]
Website	www.iq-airways.com

Iraqi Airways Company, operating as Iraqi Airways^[2] (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية العراقية‎; also known as Air Iraq), is the national carrier of Iraq, headquartered on the grounds of Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad.^[3] One of the oldest airlines in the Middle East, Iraqi Airways operates domestic and regional service. Its main base is Baghdad International Airport.^[4]

Iraqi Airways is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

History

Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945 and started operation on 29 January 1946 using Dragon Rapide and Vickers VC.1 Viking aircraft. By 1955 Vickers Viscounts operated all of Iraqi Airways' external services. In the 1960s Iraqi Airways bought Russian Tupolev Tu-124 planes as well as Hawker Siddeley Trident aircraft. These jets allowed Iraqi Airways to increase service across the Middle East, to Africa and Europe. During that time, cargo aircraft such as the Ilyushin Il-76 were also purchased. During the 1970s, Iraqi Airways needed a bigger jet for a new route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, purchasing the Boeing 707 and, soon after, the Boeing 747.

Decline

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 727 stored at Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan. (1999)

The Iran–Iraq War did little to undermine the airline's activities. Since Iraq's invasion in 1990 of Kuwait, Iraqi Airways was grounded by the United Nations' sanctions against the country. Iraqi Airways had 17 jets, all of which were moved to secret locations, mainly in Jordan (some were parked on the aprons of Amman's Queen Alia International Airport where they still stand today).

Attempts were made to restart internal services in May 1991 and permission was granted by the UN for the operation of helicopters on limited domestic services. Fixed-wing flights were banned under the ceasefire terms, although the UN Security Council agreed to the resumption of internal flights. These restarted in January 1992 from Baghdad to Basra using Antonov An-24 aircraft. Operations were suspended shortly after, following a UN ruling.^[4]

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 737-200 taxiing in front of the control tower at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. (2008)

However, domestic flights became a rarity too, because of the No-Fly Zone imposed by the United States and United Kingdom over Iraqi skies. On occasions, Iraqi Airways would also fly pilgrims to Muslim religious cities throughout the 1990s.

Revival

After the War in Iraq, on 30 May 2003, Iraqi Airways announced plans to resume international services. The rights to the Iraqi Airways name was transferred to a new and separate company called Iraqi Airways Company which would build a new airline and protect it from the legal problems related to the regime of Saddam Hussein. Operations restarted on 3 October 2004 with a flight between Baghdad and Amman.

Iraqi Airways operated the first domestic commercial scheduled service since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime from Baghdad to Basra, with 100 passengers in a Boeing 727-247, on 4 June 2005. On 6 November 2005, Iraqi Airways operated a flight from Baghdad to Tehran, Iran, for the first time in twenty five years. The aircraft, as with the rest of the fleet, is operated on its behalf by Teebah Airlines of Jordan. Services to Arbil and Sulaymaniyah were added in summer 2005.

2009

In March 2009, Iraqi Airways began its first flights to Sweden in almost nineteen years. The flight operated Baghdad-Athens-Stockholm operated by a Boeing 737-300 leased from Seagle Air.^[5]

On 22 June 2009, it was revealed that Iraqi Airways had struck a deal with British Aviation Authorities to resume direct Baghdad-London (Gatwick) flights, the flights were suppose to begin on 8 August 2009 using a Boeing 737-400 leased from Tor Air and should eventually get the Airbus A320-232 operating the route, this has failed to happen and there has been no news since. They intend on a bigger expansion into the U.K and Europe.^[6]

On 3 September 2009, Iraqi Airways resumed flights to Bahrain with a ceremony at Bahrain International Airport.^[7]

On 11 September 2009, Iraqi Airways resumed flights to Doha, Qatar from Baghdad and Najaf after a eighteen year break.^[8]

On 30 October 2009, Iraqi Airways revealed that they have applied for rights to fly to Malmö, Sweden. They expect flights to begin shortly.^[9]

On 10 October 2009, Iraqi Airways resumed flights to Karachi, Pakistan.^[10]

On 30 October 2009, Iraqi Airways started seasonal (Hajj) flights to Jeddah according to their website schedules.

During November 2009, Blue Wings, a German airline, began operating flights to Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, Germany on behalf of Iraqi Airways.^[11] Germany is now the second European country, after Greece (now suspended) and Sweden served by Iraqi Airways since the Iraq war.

On 28 November 2009, Iraqi Airways commenced flights between Baghdad and Malmö, Sweden via Erbil.^[12]

Livery

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 737-200 at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. (2008)

Iraqi Airways old logo.

The airline's livery consists of an all white airplane's belly, but with a green cheatline and an aqua green scheme covering the top of their planes. The aqua colour goes all the way to the end of the planes' tails. The tail logo consists of a green bird inside a white circle, with the name Iraqi Airways inscribed just below the circle, in white colour and in Arabic. The same title is also inscribed over the passenger windows on the front part of the fuselage, using the same colour but written in English. Iraqi Airways currently has contracts with Schabak and with Nostalgair to produce their airplane models.

Iraqi Airways appeared to have unveiled a new look, featuring navy blue and white, on their first CRJ-900 which was delivered on 7 October 2008, although there are rumors that it is the CRJ house livery with the Iraqi Airways logo added to it.^[13]

On 6 March 2009, the first picture of an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737-700 (YI-AQL) was uploaded to JetPhotos.net. This shows the aircraft in a airTran Airways hybrid scheme which shows that no new livery has yet been designed or it has not been painted on the Boeing 737-700 yet.

Destinations

At November 2009, Iraqi Airways serves 6 domestic destinations and 16 international destinations in 14 countries in 3 different continents.

• In June 2009, it was revealed that Iraqi Airways had gained rights to begin flights to London; no firm timetable has yet been released.

Fleet

Current

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 737-200 at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. (2007)

The Iraqi Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 22 November 2009):^[14][15]

Iraqi Airways begun to modernize their fleet in 2008;

• In May 2008, the Iraqi government signed a $2.2 billion contract with Boeing for 30 Boeing 737-800 with an option for an additional 10. They are also working on a deal involving the order of ten Boeing 787 aircraft which would allow for long range service but the contract has not been finalized.^[16] Another contract worth $398 million was signed for 10 CRJ-900ER aircraft with ten options from the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.^[17] The first CRJ-900ER was delivered in October, 2008. This resulted in a lawsuit against Bombardier by Kuwait Airways. Kuwait claims to have won $1.2 billion dollars in judgments against Iraqi Airways as a result of the Gulf War. The Canadian judge ruled that he did not have jurisdiction because the case involved a foreign government since the purchaser of the aircraft is the government of Iraq not Iraqi Airways.^[18] The lawsuit by Kuwait Airways has since been settled in 2009 with Iraq agreeing to pay $300 million dollars. ^[19]
• In December 2008, Iraqi Airways started to use 2 Boeing 737-300's leased from Seagle Air.
• In January 2009, Iraqi Airways received an Airbus A320-200 leased from Jordan Aviation.
• In February 2009, Iraqi Airways received two Boeing 737-700's from AirTran Airways. They will be maintained by Turkish Technic the maintenance division of Turkish Airlines.^[20]
• In March 2009, Iraqi Airways returned the Airbus A320-200. It also received a purchased Boeing 737-200 from Teebah Airlines and received a Boeing 737-300 from United Airlines.
• In April 2009, Iraqi Airways returned one Boeing 737-200 leased from Tajik Air.
• In May 2009, Iraqi Airways returned one of the Boeing 737-300's leased from Seagle Air.
• In June 2009, Iraqi Airways returned the last Boeing 737-300 leased from Seagle Air.
• In July 2009, Airbus revealed that they are going to aim to sell some of their products to Iraqi Airways, the specific types have not yet been revealed as it is only talks to get the company to purchase Airbus aircraft to replace the all Boeing and Bombardier fleet.^[21] They have also received another Boeing 737-200 and a Boeing 737-400 leased from Tor Air. They have also announced that they have signed a contract for twenty aircraft to be leased from Ross Aviation, a company based in Colorado, United States of America. The aircraft types have not yet been announced.^[22]
• On 4 August 2009, it was revealed that Iraqi Airways had signed a contract to lease three Airbus A320-232 aircraft from Blue Wings, a German-based airline. The aircraft will be used on the Baghdad-London route with a capacity of 168 passengers. ^[23]
• In November 2009, Iraqi Airways had a Boeing 747-200B operated by Hellenic Imperial Airways join the fleet.

Historic

An Iraqi Airways Cargo Ilyushin Il-76MD parked at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, France. (1984)

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 727-200 and Boeing 747SP stored at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. (2003)

Iraqi Airways fleet was composed of mostly Boeing aircraft ordered during 1970s and served with the carrier until the 1990 ban on air travel. Until 2003, some of these aircraft were stored in Amman, Beirut and Tehran because of the Gulf War and ban on air travel in Iraq. However, some airworthy aircraft operated a few Hajj flights during the 1990s. After the 2004 re-organization, several restored Boeing 727s and Boeing 737s, in addition to leased Boeing 767-200 aircraft, operated flights for the carrier.

Iraqi Airways still consists of some of the following aircraft;

• Airbus A300B4-2C - One in fleet
• Airbus A320-211 - was operated by Jordan Aviation
• Airbus A320-232 - One in fleet
• Antonov An-24
• Boeing 707-320
• Boeing 727-200
• Boeing 737-200 - Three in fleet
• Boeing 737-300 - One in fleet
• Boeing 737-400 - One in fleet
• Boeing 737-700 - Two in fleet
• Boeing 747-200
• Boeing 747-200B - One in fleet
• Boeing 747SP
• Boeing 767-200
• Bombardier CRJ-900ER - One in fleet
• Ilyushin IL-76
• Vickers 735 Viscount
• Tupolev Tu-124

Note: The list contains aircraft which are still being operated.

Five Airbus A310-300 were also ordered in the late 1980s but war related sanctions prevented Iraq from receiving them and they were never delivered. In July 2008, Airbus Industrie sales chief John Leahy ordered the deal removed from its backlog in response to an inquiry from Reuters about the long-forgotten deal at the 2008 Farnborough Airshow.

Incidents and accidents

Iraqi Airways has had the following incidents since they began operations in 1945;^[24]

• On 10 October 1955, a Vickers 644 Viking 1B overran the runway at Baghdad and crashed into a ditch where it caught fire. All nineteen passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was written off.
• On 19 March 1965, a Vickers 773 Viscount crashed into a row of lamp posts at Cairo after a flight from Baghdad. All passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was written off.
• On 17 April 1973, a Vickers 735 Viscount performed a belly landing at Mosul International Airport after fuel exhaustion. All thirty three passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was written off.
• On 1 March 1975, a Boeing 737-200 flying from Mosul to Baghdad was hijacked by three hijackers. There was one death onboard.
• On 23 September 1980, a Ilyushin 76 cargo aircraft flying from Paris to Baghdad crashed whilst on approach to Saddam International Airport. It is believed the aircraft was shot down by Iranian fighter jets. It as also believed all crew members died.
• On 24 September 1980, a Antonov 24TV was destroyed by heavy fire whilst on the ground Kirkuk Airport. There were reports of heavy fire in the area during 24 September.
• On 22 April 1982, a Antonov 24B crashed whilst on approach to an Iraqi airfield. The left wing hit the ground causing the plane to crash. It is believed all crew members died.
• On 28 August 1982, a Antonov 24TV undercarriage collapsed on take-off from Nasiriyah Airport. All onboard survived but the aircraft was written off.
• On 16 September 1984, Iraqi Airways Flight 123, a Boeing 737-270C flying from Larnaca to Baghdad was hijacked by three hijackers. The three hijackers were killed whilst the rest of the passengers and crew survived.
• On 25 December 1986, Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737-270C flying from Baghdad to Amman experienced a hijack attempt whilst flying over Saudi Arabia. Four hijackers tried to enter the cockpit whilst flying at FL260. Two explosions went off resulting in a crash near Arar, Saudi Arabia killing Sixty three of the one hundred and six onboard.
• During the Gulf War, Two Iraqi Airways Tupolev Tu-124V were destroyed by U.S. bombs.

References

External links

• Iraqi Airways (Arabic)
• Iraqi Airways Fleet

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