From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iraqi Airways
IATA IA	ICAO IAW	Callsign IRAQI
Founded		1945
Hubs		Baghdad International Airport
Focus cities		Basra International Airport
Fleet size		17 (+5 on order)
Destinations		8
Parent company		Air Iraq Co.
Headquarters		Baghdad, Iraq
Key people
Website: http://www.iraqiairways.co.uk/

Iraqi Airways (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية العراقية; also known as Air Iraq) is the largest airline of Iraq. The airline is the national carrier as it operates domestic, regional, and international services. Its main hub is in Baghdad International Airport.

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

Contents 1 History 1.1 Beginnings 1.2 Decline 1.3 Revival 2 Incidents and accidents 3 Destinations 3.1 Africa 3.2 Iraq 3.3 Middle east 4 Fleet 5 Livery 6 References 7 External links

Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945 using the Dragon Rapide and Vickers Viscount. By 1955 the Viscounts took over all of Iraqi Airways' services.

In the 1960s Iraqi Airways bought Russian Tupolev Tu-124 planes as well as British 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.

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.

Because Iraqi Airways was allowed to fly domestically, it continued service to smaller cities, such as Basra. These restarted in January 1992 from Baghdad to Basra using Antonov An-24 aircraft. 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 during the 1990s.

After the War in Iraq, on May 30, 2003, Iraqi Airways announced plans to resume international service. The rights to the Iraqi Airways name was transferred to a new and separate company called Air Iraq Company who will build a new airline and protect it from the legal problems related to the regime of Saddam Hussein (who had become President in 1979 till December of 2003). 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 25 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.

In 1986, Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737 flying from Saddam International Airport in Baghdad to Jordan, was attacked by Hezbollah terrorists. Although the plane tried to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, the terrorists threw a bomb into the plane's cockpit, resulting in the deaths of 61 of the 103 people on board.

Iraqi Airways serves the following domestic and international scheduled destinations, as of February 2007.

• Cairo (Cairo International Airport)

• Arbil
• Baghdad (Baghdad International Airport) Main Hub
• Basra (Basra International Airport) Secondary Hub
• Sulaymaniyah

• Amman (Queen Alia International Airport)
• Beirut (Rafic Hariri International Airport)
• Damascus (Damascus International Airport)
• Dubai (Dubai International Airport)
• Kuwait City (Kuwait International Airport)
• Tehran (Imam Khomeini International Airport)

The Iraqi Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft as of November 2006:^[1]

Iraqi Airways Fleet

Aircraft	Total	Passengers (First*/Economy)	Notes
Airbus A310	(5 orders)
Boeing 707-320C	2	189
Boeing 727-200	7	125
Boeing 737-200	1	106
Boeing 737-400	(5 orders)		to be leased
Boeing 747-200C	3	425
Boeing 747SP	2	350
Boeing 757		195
Boeing 767-200	1	252
Ilyushin IL-76	1		Cargo Operations

Iraqi Airways has 5 Airbus A310 and 5 Boeing 737-400 aircraft on order. The Boeing 737-400s will be leased out to Iraqi Airways.

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

1. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006

• Iraqi Airway Information
• Unofficial page
• BBC news
• A most comprehensive directory with addresses in Iraq, also contact details for Iraqi Airways

[[it:Iraqi Airways]