Baghdad International Airport
Baghdad International Airport مطار بغداد الدولي Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy | |||||||||||||||
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Iraqi Government | |||||||||||||||
Location | Baghdad, Iraq | ||||||||||||||
Hub for |
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Elevation AMSL | 114 ft / 35 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 33°15′45″N 44°14′04″E / 33.26250°N 44.23444°E | ||||||||||||||
Maps | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2009) | |||||||||||||||
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Baghdad International Airport (
History
Pre-1982
The airport was developed under a consortium led by French company Spie Batignolles under an agreement made in 1979. The Iran-Iraq war delayed full opening of the airport until 1982. It opened as Saddam International Airport, bearing the name of then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.[3]
1991–2003
Most of
2003–2005 (U.S. occupation)
In April 2003, U.S.-led Coalition forces invaded Iraq and changed the airport's name to Baghdad International Airport. The ICAO code for the airport consequently changed from ORBS to ORBI. The IATA code subsequently switched from SDA to BGW, which had previously referred to all Baghdad airports, and before that to Al Muthana Airport when Saddam was in power.
Civilian control of the airport was returned to the Iraqi Government from the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004.
2005–present
Terminal C was refreshed with three active gate areas for carriers operating from the airport.
Baghdad Airport Road, connecting the airport to the Green Zone, once a dangerous route full of IEDs, was refurbished with palm trees, manicured lawns, and a fountain, with Turkish assistance.[4]
Military use
A separate enclave within the airport houses the
Sather Air Base, or Camp Sather, was a
Airport developments
On 18 May 2010, plans were unveiled for an expansion of Baghdad International Airport, doubling its capacity to 15 million passengers per year. The expansion, to be funded by foreign investors, was to include construction of three new terminals and refurbishment of the existing three, each of which would accommodate 2.5 million passengers annually.[6]
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[9]
| |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Azerbaijan Airlines | Baku[10] |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Cham Wings Airlines | Damascus |
Egyptair | Cairo |
Emirates | Dubai–International |
FlyArna | Yerevan |
flydubai | Dubai–International[11] |
Gulf Air | Bahrain |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Medina, Sharm El Sheikh, Trabzon
| |
Jordan Aviation | Amman–Queen Alia |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Middle East Airlines | Beirut |
Nile Air | Cairo Seasonal: Sharm El Sheikh[17] |
Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
| |
Qatar Airways | Doha |
Royal Jordanian | Amman–Queen Alia[18] |
SalamAir | Muscat[19] |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Syrian Air | Damascus |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
| |
Turkish Airlines | Istanbul[20] Seasonal: Antalya |
Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Samsun
| |
Tehran–Imam Khomeini
|
Cargo
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Coyne Airways | Dubai-International[22] |
EgyptAir Cargo | Cairo[23] |
Silk Way Airlines | Baku[24] |
Incidents and accidents
- During the Gulf War, two Iraqi Airways Tupolev Tu-124Vs parked on the ground were destroyed by U.S. bombs.[citation needed]
- In June 2000, two Saudi former military officers boarded a plane bound for London and diverted it to Baghdad. They wanted to claim asylum in Iraq, but Iraqi authorities later deported them to Saudi Arabia.[25]
- On 22 November 2003, a SA-14 'Grail' missile shortly after takeoff. The airplane lost hydraulic pressure, causing a loss of control. After extending the landing gear to create more drag, the crew piloted the plane using differences in engine thrust and landed the plane with minimal further damage. All three crew survived. After the incident, civilian planes took to routinely performing corkscrew landings to minimise the risk of being hit by surface weapons.[26]
- On 26 January 2015, a FlyDubai and Emirates suspended their flights from Dubai to Baghdad. Flights by Turkish Airlines and Royal Jordanian were also temporarily suspended.[11]
- On 3 January 2020, a U.S. drone strike killed Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran's Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, as their convoy left the airport on or near Baghdad Airport Road.[28][29][30]
See also
References
- ^ "Airport information for ORBI". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF. - ^ Airport information for SDA at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ISBN 978-1-4289-2383-6.
- ^ Arango, Tim (20 November 2014). "Amid Mutual Suspicion, Turkish Premier Visits Iraq". The New York Times Company. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- . August 2014. p. 22.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Air Arabia Abu Dhabi launches new direct flights to two cities in Iraq".
- ^ "Turkish Airlines adds Ankara – Baghdad service in S19". Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ Liu, Jim. "Turkish Airlines confirms AnadoluJet network transition from late-March 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES RESUMES BAGHDAD SERVICE FROM LATE-DEC 2023". AeroRoutes. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ a b Fahim, Kareem (27 January 2015). "Airlines Suspend Flights to Iraq's Baghdad Airport After Jet Is Hit by Gunfire". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Iraqi Airways Resumes Dusseldorf Service from Nov 2023". AeroRoutes. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ "Iraqi Airways to Resume Guangzhou Service in 4Q23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ "Iraqi Airways Resumes Kuala Lumpur From Feb 2024".
- ^ Liu, Jim (11 October 2017). "Iraqi Airways Germany / Russia service changes from Oct 2017". Routesonline. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ "Iraqi Airways files Hurghada / Trabzon schedules from July 2019". routesonline.com. 16 July 2019. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
- ^ "Nile Air schedules Baghdad charters from July 2019". routesonline.com. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian suspend service to Iraq amid regional tensions".
- ^ "SalamAir launches flights to Baghdad". Oman Observer. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ "Istanbul New Airport Transition Delayed Until April 5, 2019 (At The Earliest)". Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
- ^ Liu, Jim. "UR Airlines files S20 network". Routesonline. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ conyeair.com - Gulf Schedule Archived 4 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 24 November 2019
- ^ "Dnata scoops new Egyptair Cargo handling deal in Dubai ǀ Air Cargo News". www.aircargonews.net. DVV Media International. 30 May 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ silkwayairlines.com - Our network Archived 3 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 24 November 2019
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 777-268 HZ-AKH Baghdad".
- ^ "The opinion pollsters who dodged mortar fire and militias". BBC News. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ^ "Boeing Hit by Gunfire in Baghdad". Airliner World: 83. March 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "US kills powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad airstrike". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
- ^ Crowley, Michael; Hassan, Falih; Schmitt, Eric (2 January 2020). "U.S. Strike in Iraq Kills Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Iranian Forces". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
External links
Media related to Baghdad International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Baghdad Airport Arrivals and Departures (non-official website)
- Globalsecurity.org profile
- Christian Science Monitor article on reconstruction, October 2003
- Extensive photographs of Baghdad Airport – 12.07.2004
- Accident history for BGW at Aviation Safety Network