Air Iraq

Looking for a direct flight to Iraq?

The new Air Iraq will have direct flights from Iraq to Washington DC.

I got the following email so I thought I would post it and see if I could find out more information.

"I'm leaving tomorrow for a six month contract as a Captain for Iraqi Airways. We are going to start up their serious international airline with Boeing 737-700 New Generation jets, which are the latest and greatest aircraft available.

The Iraqis are going all out, and we intend to help them get started with all the energy we can give them. We're all experienced airline captains and will be staying at the new BIAP Hotel as a base for operations.

Can you tell me how secure we are there, and what to expect? Naturally it took some coaxing to get some of the guys to go, but we are mostly from Aloha Airlines in Hawaii and after 60 years, the airlines went bust and we're jobless. If you can help us with information and tips and anything else we'd all greatly appreciate it. I'm the senior captain and in charge of the group. I'd like to have a little heads up if you can give me one.

Thank you very much for your fantastic website. Really a great resource."

Travel will be greatly improved for many American contractors who are working in Iraq. I wish they had the service when I worked there. It would have made life so much easier.

Below are some more details I found.

Air Iraq is the new Iraqi Airline. It will have flights to the Western world, the United States and other major cites which are important to the reconstruction goals in post-war Iraq.

Air Iraq has the support of the United States government, the Iraq government and many others. In order for an Iraqi airline to get off the ground they have to have a lot of support.

They have been working on this organization for about eight months and will start off with direct flights from Iraq to Washington DC.

I can see the benefit in this. It used to be a pain to fly out of Iraq for R and R. This makes me wonder if troops flying in and out will start to go to Baghdad instead of through Kuwait. This will save everyone a lot of time and money.

They are flying Boeing's newest plane. I flew on one of these with Emirate Airlines on one of my trips back to the United States. The seats were a bit close but they had a good entertainment system.

It was personalized with hundreds of music and video channels to choose from. It was great. It was nice being on a new plane as well.

There are six major airports in Iraq. They are located in Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk, Bamerny and Al Muthana. There are plans to build more airports at Ninawa, Najaf, Tamim and Missan.

Baghdad International Airport is a shared facility with the military. In April of 2003, United States forces captured the airport with little damage to the facilities and runways.

Baghdad Airport was built by the French at a cost of $900 million dollars. The present airport was completed in 1987, with three passenger terminals capable of accommodating 7.5 million passengers per year, while the freight terminal can handle 75,000 tons of freight.

Air Iraq will provide a connection between Iraq and the rest of the world. The initial schedule will consist of three weekly flights between Washington, DC (BWI) and Baghdad.

And the plan in the next six months, is to have flights between Baghdad and European and Pacific countries, while a regional subsidiary of Air Iraq will provide flight services between major cities in Iraq and neighboring countries.

Let's wish Air Iraq good luck in getting this much needed air travel off the ground.

For more information visit Air Iraq's home page.

Thank you for your visit.

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