Iraqi Airways
Iraqi Airways الخطوط الجوية العراقية |
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IATA code : | IA |
ICAO code : | IAW |
Call sign : | IRAQI |
Founding: | 1945 |
Seat: | Baghdad , Iraq |
Turnstile : | |
Home airport : | Baghdad airport |
Company form: | State company |
IATA prefix code : | 073 |
Management: | Kifah H. Jabbar ( CEO ) |
Fleet size: | 30 (+ 36 orders) |
Aims: | National and international |
Website: | www.iraqiairways.com.iq |
Iraqi Airways ( Arabic الخطوط الجوية العراقية al-chuṭūṭ al-dschawwiyya al-ʿirāqiyya ) is the state airline of Iraq , based in Baghdad and based at Baghdad Airport . She is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization .
history
First years and advancement
Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945. The first machines used were of the De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide type , which were gradually replaced by Vickers Viscount until 1955 .
With the arrival of the age of jet aircraft , the fleet was quickly modernized with Russian Tupolev Tu-124 and British Hawker Siddeley Trident . With these aircraft, Iraqi was able to expand its flight network beyond the Middle East to Africa and Europe. During this time, Ilyushin Il-76 cargo planes were also procured .
In the 1970s, Iraqi Airways was granted landing rights for John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York , which, however, made the acquisition of larger aircraft - the Boeing 707 - necessary. Soon after, Boeing 747s were also added to the fleet. In 1979, Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq, which in retrospect is considered to be the turning point for the airline.
Decline in the 1980s and 1990s
In the 1980s Iraqi was largely able to maintain its route network; the Iran-Iraq war could do little to help. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, which heralded the second Gulf War , the airline was forced to ground due to the UN embargo on Iraq . Before the invasion, the airline moved all of its 17 aircraft abroad, with the exception of two aircraft in Tunisia, mainly to Jordan .
Despite the ordeal, many of the 800 employees remained optimistic about the future of the company. The mechanics probably owned the only engine in Iraq for training purposes, in the hope that Iraqi would one day need their services again.
From 1992 the company was allowed to operate domestic flights again. These started in January with a flight to Basra with an Antonov An-24 . Most of the time, however, these flights could not be carried out due to the no-fly zones imposed by the Americans and the British. Occasional pilgrimage flights to Muslim holy places were also carried out in the 1990s.
Development after the Third Gulf War
After the third Gulf War , interest in international flights was revived. It was hoped that Iraqi would regain international status so that negotiations on landing rights in other states could begin.
On May 30, 2003, the management officially announced the resumption of international air traffic. The first flight took place on October 3, 2004 from Baghdad to Amman in Jordan.
On June 4, 2005, the first domestic scheduled flight since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government took place. One flew with 100 passengers in a Boeing 727-200 from Baghdad to Basra. And on November 6th, a plane flew from Baghdad to Tehran in Iran - for the first time in 25 years. Like all other flights, the flight was operated by the Jordanian company Teebah Airlines on behalf of Iraqi. From summer 2005 the cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniyya were also included in the flight plan.
In 2009 Iraqi Airways presented itself with a much more modern fleet and plans to start its own flights. In August 2009 Iraqi Airways and Blue Wings agreed to work together to enable joint flights between Iraq and Europe. On April 25, Iraqi resumed communications with London for the first time.
In May 2010 it was announced that the airline would be dissolved within three years. The reason given was financial claims from Kuwait Airways . In May 2012, however, it became known that the dispute had been settled with a compensation payment and that Iraqi Airways would continue to operate.
In February 2013, Iraqi Airways announced that the modernization of the fleet with Airbus A320 and A330 as well as Boeing 777 was already under way, as well as an expansion of the route network. Among other things, after the settlement of the conflict that has lasted more than 20 years, Kuwait will be served again. In addition, a new corporate design is to be introduced.
In August 2015 Iraqi Airways was placed on the list of operating bans for the airspace of the European Union for security reasons .
Destinations
Iraqi Airways serves 35 domestic and international destinations in the Middle East , Asia , North Africa and Europe . In Europe due to the flight ban are European Union , among others, Frankfurt , Dusseldorf , Berlin with a leased Boeing 737-800 of AirExplore served.
fleet
Current fleet
As of March 2020, the Iraqi Airways fleet consists of 30 aircraft with an average age of 8.9 years:
Aircraft type | active | ordered | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
Airbus A220-300 | 5 | + 11 options | |
Airbus A320-200 | 3 | ||
Airbus A321-200 | 2 | ||
Airbus A330-200 | 1 | ||
Boeing 737-800 | 14th | 17th | equipped with winglets |
Boeing 747-400 | 2 | 1 operated for the Iraqi government | |
Boeing 767-300ER | 1 | inactive | |
Boeing 777-200LR | 1 | ||
Boeing 787-8 | 10 | ||
Bombardier CRJ900 | 6th | 4th | one inactive |
total | 30th | 36 |
Previously deployed aircraft
Before that, Iraqi Airways also operated the following types of aircraft:
- Antonov An-12
- Antonov An-24
- Boeing 707
- Boeing 727-200
- Boeing 737 -200, -300, -400, -700
- Boeing 747-200
- Boeing 747SP
- Dassault Falcon
- De Havilland DH.104 Dove
- Douglas DC-3 / C-47
- Hawker Siddeley Trident
- Ilyushin Il-76
- Lockheed L-1329 JetStar
- Tupolev Tu-124
- Tupolev Tu-134
- Vickers Viking
- Vickers Viscount
Incidents
Iraqi Airways counted eleven serious incidents with total loss of the aircraft up to July 2018, three of them with a total of 67 fatalities. Extracts:
- On April 17, 1973, a Vickers Viscount 735 ( aircraft registration YI-ACL ) made a belly landing at Mosul Airport after all of its fuel was used up. All 33 occupants survived the accident; the machine has been irreparably damaged.
- On December 25, 1986, the worst incident to date occurred. On the way from Baghdad to Amman , about 55 minutes after take-off, four terrorists attempted to break into the cockpit of the Boeing 737-200 at an altitude of around 8000 meters ( FL 260) . While flight security attendants from Iraqi Airways were trying to get the situation under control, a hand grenade was thrown into the passenger cabin, whereupon an emergency descent was immediately initiated. Around 5000 m (FL160) was reached, a hand grenade exploded in the cockpit, which led to the plane crashing near Arar . 63 of the 106 people on board were killed (see also Iraqi Airways flight 163 ) .
See also
Web links
- Iraqi Airways website
- Iraqi Airways photos on airliners.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ iraqinews.com - Iraq to sell all his aircrafts, parked in foreign airports since old regime Iraqi News , December 21, 2010
- ↑ ad-hoc-news.de - Blue Wings works with Iraqi Airways
- ^ Marc Brupbacher: Lufthansa, Austrian, Air Berlin: Everyone wants to fly to Iraq. Tages-Anzeiger , April 26, 2010, accessed May 26, 2010 .
- ↑ aljazeera.net - Iraq to dissolve Iraqi Airways (English), accessed on May 26, 2010
- ↑ airliners.de - Weekly Review: From all over the world May 25, 2012
- ↑ austrianaviation.net - Everything new: Iraqi Airways takes off on February 18, 2013
- ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Iraqi Airways banned from Europe again, August 13, 2015
- ↑ ch-aviation - Iraqi Airways eyes US debut in 2016 (English), accessed on November 21, 2015
- ^ Iraqi Airways Fleet Details and History. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Boeing - Orders and Deliveries , accessed December 23, 2015
- ↑ Bombardier Aerospace - Commercial Aircraft Status Reports ( Memento of the original from September 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed December 23, 2015
- ↑ aero.de - Iraqi Airways: Firm order for five Bombardier CS300 ( memento of the original from December 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966 to 2007
- ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
- ↑ Accident statistics Iraqi Airways , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2018.
- ^ Accident report YI-ACL , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.
- ^ Accident report YI-AGJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.