 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Iraqi Airways" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |||||||
_at_Frankfurt_Airport.jpg) Iraqi AirwaysAirbus A320-214 atFrankfurt Airport | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | June 1945; 80 years ago (1945-06) Baghdad, Iraq | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 28 January 1946; 79 years ago (1946-01-28) | ||||||
| AOC # | 19 | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Hubs | Baghdad International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | SkyMiles | ||||||
| Fleet size | 40 | ||||||
| Destinations | 50 | ||||||
| Parent company | Iraqi Government | ||||||
| Headquarters | Baghdad, Iraq | ||||||
| Key people | Manaf Abdul-Moneim | ||||||
| Website | iraqiairways | ||||||
Iraqi Airways Company (Arabic:الخطوط الجوية العراقية,romanized: al-Xuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-ʿIrāqiyyah), operating asIraqi Airways,[1] is thenational carrier ofIraq, headquartered on the grounds ofBaghdad International Airport inBaghdad.[2][3] It is the secondoldest airline in theMiddle East. Iraqi Airways operatesdomestic andregional services; its main base is Baghdad International Airport.[4]
_at_EMA.jpg)
Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945 as a department of theIraqi State Railways and started operating on 28 January 1946 using fiveDe Havilland Dragon Rapides on a service toSyria. With the help of theBritish Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), the new airline ordered threeVickers Viking aircraft. While waiting for the Vikings to be delivered, it leased fourDouglas DC-3 aircraft from BOAC in December 1946. In 1947, the airline ordered thede Havilland Dove to replace the Dragon Rapides; the Doves were delivered in October 1947. The three new Vikings were delivered at the end of 1947 and the DC-3s returned to BOAC. A fourth Viking was boughtsecond-hand.
In 1953, the four-enginedVickers Viscount turboprop was chosen to replace the Vikings and an order for three was placed in July. The Viscounts entered service in 1955 and operated all of Iraqi Airways' international services, including a new route toLondon with intermediate stops. On 1 April 1960, the airline was split from the railway company. In 1961, it placed an order for twoBoeing 720Bs for delivery in 1964, but the order was later cancelled.
In the 1960s, Iraqi Airways boughtRussianTupolev Tu-124 planes as well asHawker Siddeley Trident aircraft. These jets allowed the airline to increase services across theMiddle East, toAfrica andEurope. At the time, cargoaircraft such as theIlyushin Il-76 were also purchased. During the 1970s, Iraqi Airways needed a bigger jet for a new route toJohn F. Kennedy International Airport inNew York; it purchased theBoeing 707 and, soon after, theBoeing 747.Airfares were kept artificially low through statesubsidies under the IraqiBa'athist government.[5]
Attempts were made to restart domestic services after theGulf War in May 1991, and permission was granted by theUnited Nations to operatehelicopters on limited domestic services.Fixed-wing flights werebanned under the ceasefire terms, although theUN Security Council agreed to the resumption of domestic flights. These restarted in January 1992 from Baghdad toBasra, usingAntonov An-24 aircraft. Operations were suspended shortly after, following a UN ruling.[4]
However, domestic flights became a rarity too, because of theno-fly zone imposed by the United States andUnited Kingdom over Iraqi skies. During the 1990s, Iraqi Airways would occasionally fly pilgrims toMuslimreligious cities.
After theIraq War, on 30 May 2003, Iraqi Airways announced plans to resume international services. The rights to the Iraqi Airways name were transferred to a new and separate company calledIraqi Airways Company, which would establish a new airline and protect it from the legal problems tied toSaddam Hussein's regime. Operations restarted on 3 October 2004, with a flight betweenBaghdad andAmman.
Iraqi Airways operated the first domestic commercial scheduled service since the fall ofSaddam Hussein's regime, fromBaghdad toBasra, with 100 passengers in aBoeing 727-200, on 4 June 2005. On 6 November 2005, Iraqi Airways operated a flight from Baghdad toTehran,Iran, for the first time in twenty-five years. The aircraft, as with the rest of the fleet, was operated on its behalf byTeebah Airlines ofJordan. Services toErbil andSulaymaniyah were added in the summer of 2005.
In June 2009, it was revealed that Iraqi Airways had struck a deal with British aviation authorities to resume direct from Baghdad toLondon Gatwick Airport; the flights were supposed to begin on 8 August 2009 using aBoeing 737-400 leased fromTor Air and would eventually have seen theAirbus A320-200 operating the route. This did not happen as planned, however. The airline said at the time that they intended a bigger expansion into the UK and Europe.[6]
In November 2009,Blue Wings, aGerman airline, began operating flights toDüsseldorf andFrankfurt, Germany on behalf of Iraqi Airways.[7]
On 25 April 2010, Iraqi Airways launched flights to Gatwick Airport viaMalmö,Sweden. When the first flight landed in London, aKuwaiti lawyer had the General Director Kifah Hassan's documents and passport seized, as well as the plane itself. There were no developments, however, as the plane was owned by theSwedish companyTor Air.[8] The plane returned toBaghdad. However, Kifah Hassan was not allowed to leave theUnited Kingdom and went up in court on 30 April.[9] Kuwaiti officials demanded £780 million for the planes stolen bySaddam Hussein in the 1990 invasion.[10]
On 26 May 2010, Amer Abdul-Jabbar, Iraq's transport minister, said the cabinet had decided on Tuesday to dissolve the company over the next three years and pursue private options to avoid asset claims made by Kuwait over their 1990–91 war.[11]
In February 2012, Iraqi Airways announced that it would resume flights toIndia, with services toDelhi orMumbai from Baghdad.[12]
In April 2012, it was announced that Iraqi Airways had ordered 40 newBoeing aircraft, the order consisting of 30Boeing 737-800 and 10Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The first aircraft would be delivered in December 2012.[13] Airbus in early December delivered its firstA330-200 to Iraq, while Boeing delivered aBoeing 777 around the same time as well.[14][15]
On 14 August 2013, Iraqi Airways took delivery of their first Boeing 737-800 directly from Boeing Company.
In June 2014, Iraqi Airways suspended services toMosul due to thecapture of the city byISIL.
On 8 September 2015, Iraqi Airways received a loan of $2 billion from aCitibank to finance the purchase of 40 modern aircraft type Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner.[16]
The airline opened a Request For Proposals (RFP) to European airlines with a valid AOC certification in late 2019. The goal was to obtain agreements towet lease aircraft that can serve routes between Iraq and Europe.[17][18]
In 2019, Iraqi Airways saw the resumption of flights toSyria, betweenDamascus and Baghdad.[19]
Iraqi Airways is one of the few airlines that do not servealcoholic beverages on their flights.[20]
In 2008, Iraqi Airways received a singleBombardier CRJ in an adapted version of Bombardier's distinctive blue and white demonstrator livery with Iraqi titles and logos. The rest of the CRJ fleet was delivered in a version of the former green livery and YI-AQA was quickly painted to match. In 2012 Iraqi Airways adopted a new green livery which was applied fleet-wide.[citation needed]
In March 2009, Iraqi Airways began its first flights toSweden in almost 19 years.[21]
In September 2009, the airline resumed flights toBahrain[22] andDoha,Qatar.[23]
In October 2009, Iraqi Airways resumed flights toKarachi,Pakistan.[24] The airline also started seasonal (Hajj) flights toJeddah.
After revealing the previous month that it had applied for rights to fly toMalmö,Sweden,[25] Iraqi Airways commenced flights to the city on 28 November 2009.[26]
.jpg)
.jpg)
As of August 2025[update], Iraqi Airways operates the following aircraft:[28]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A220-300 | 5 | — | 12 | 130 | 142 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 3 | — | — | 180 | 180 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 2 | — | — | 220 | 220 | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 1 | — | 24 | 264 | 288 | YI-AQY |
| Boeing 737-800 | 14 | — | 12 | 150 | 162 | One leased from Tailwind Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 6 | — | 12 | 150 | 162 | |
| Boeing 737 MAX 10 | — | 10 | TBA | Deliveries from 2024.[29] | ||
| Boeing 777-200LR | 1 | — | 14 | 350 | 364 | YI-AQZ |
| Boeing 787-8 | 2 | 7[30] | 24 | 242 | 266 | Deliveries commenced in 2023 |
| Boeing 787-9 | — | 1[30] | TBA | |||
| Bombardier CRJ-900LR | 6 | — | — | 90 | 90 | |
| Total | 40 | 18 | ||||
In May 2008, the Iraqi government signed a $2.2 billion contract with Boeing for 30Boeing 737-800s with an option for an additional 10. It was also working on a deal involving the order of tenBoeing 787 Dreamliners aircraft for long-range service.[31]
Another contract worth $398 million was signed for tenBombardier CRJ-900ER aircraft with ten options.[32] The first CRJ-900ER was delivered in October 2008. This resulted in a lawsuit against Bombardier byKuwait Airways. Kuwait claims to have won $1.2 billion 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, given that the purchaser of the aircraft was the government of Iraq, not Iraqi Airways.[33] The lawsuit by Kuwait Airways was settled in 2009, with Iraq agreeing to pay $300 million.[34]
In February 2010, Iraqi Airways announced major fleet plans, including converting 10 of the 30 orders for the Boeing 737-800 to additional wide bodies as well as bringing the delivery date forward to September 2011, and changing the 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliner orders toBoeing 777 aircraft.[35]
Five Kuwait AirwaysAirbus A310-200s were seized in 1990 and re-registered in Iraq as part of Iraqi Airways; however, these never flew any commercial flights for the airline.[citation needed] Iraqi Airways also ordered five Airbus A310-300s in the late 1980s, but war-related sanctions prevented their delivery.[citation needed]
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Iraqi Airways was subject to fatal incidents with the last occurring on 25 December 1986. In the modern day, it has seen significant improvements in its fleet and operations. The airline has had the following incidents, accidents, and hijackings since it began operations in 1945:[36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Media related toIraqi Airways at Wikimedia Commons
