Baghdad International Airport

Not to be confused with Bagdad Airport.
Baghdad International Airport
مطار بغداد الدولي
Matar Baġdād ad-Dowaly

IATA: BGWICAO: ORBI

BGW
Location of airport in Iraq

Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Operator Iraqi Government
Location Baghdad, Iraq
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 114 ft / 35 m
Coordinates 33°15′45″N 044°14′04″E / 33.26250°N 44.23444°E / 33.26250; 44.23444
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
15R/33L 10,830 3,301 Concrete
15L/33R 13,124 4,000 Concrete
Statistics (2009)
Total passengers Increase 7,500,000 (estimate)
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

Baghdad International Airport (IATA: BGW, ICAO: ORBI) (Arabic: مطار بغداد الدولي) [Previously Saddam International Airport (IATA: SDA, ICAO: ORBS)] is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate. It is the home base for Iraq's national airline, Iraqi Airways.

History

Pre-1987

The present 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 1987. The airport at the time was opened as Saddam International Airport, bearing the name of the then-president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein.[3]

1987–2000

Most of Baghdad's civil flights stopped in 1991, when the United Nations imposed restrictions on Iraq after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. Because of the no-fly zone imposed on Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom, Iraqi Airways was only able to continue domestic flights for limited periods. Internationally, Baghdad was able to receive occasional charter flights carrying medicine, aid workers, and government officials. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated regular flights from Amman to Baghdad.

2001–2004

Inside view of the terminal in 2003, showing an abandoned and nonfunctional FIDS (note the red and white icon for the long-defunct East German airline Interflug in the fourth row from the bottom), in front of empty check-in desks and passport control

In April 2003, US-led 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 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 in 2004.

2005–present

The current entrance to Baghdad International Airport, 2007

Terminal C has been refreshed with three active gate areas for carriers operating from the airport.

Baghdad Airport Road, connecting the airport with the Green Zone, which was once a dangerous route full of IEDs, has been refurbished with palm trees, manicured lawns, and a fountain, with Turkish assistance.[4]

Military use

Within the airport there is a separate enclave called the New Al Muthana Air Base where No. 23 Squadron IqAF is based with three Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft and the home to a number of Sukhoi Su-25's.[5]

Sather Air Base or Camp Sather was a United States Air Force base on the west side of the airport occupied from 2003 to 2011 during the Iraq War. It was named in memory of Combat Controller Staff Sergeant Scott Sather, the first enlisted Airman to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sather was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his leadership of a 24th Special Tactics Squadron reconnaissance task force during the initial stages of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Airport developments

Airline service

Expansion plans

On 18 May 2010, plans were unveiled for an expansion of Baghdad International Airport, which will double its capacity to 15 million passengers per year. The expansion, to be funded by foreign investors, will include the construction of three new terminals and the refurbishment of the existing three terminals, which will each accommodate 2.5 million passengers annually.[7]

Airlines and destinations

A flying carpet sculpture on the wall at BIAP. (2011)

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Sharjah
AtlasGlobal Istanbul–Atatürk
Blue Air Seasonal: Larnaca
EgyptAir Cairo
Emirates Dubai–International
FlyDamas Damascus
FlyBaghdad Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Tbilisi, Kish, Isfahan, Mashhad
flydubai Dubai–International
Gulf Air Bahrain
Iran Air Birjand, Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz
Iraqi Airways Amman–Queen Alia, Ankara, Baku, Basra, Beijing–Capital, Beirut, Cairo, Delhi, Dubai–International, Erbil, Guangzhou, Isfahan, Istanbul–Atatürk, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kutaisi, Mashhad, Mumbai, Najaf, Sulaymaniyah, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Iraqi Airways
operated by AirExplore
Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London–Gatwick,1 Stockholm–Arlanda
Mahan Air Isfahan, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Meraj Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Mashhad, Kermanshah
Middle East Airlines Beirut
Nile Air Cairo
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha
Qeshm Airlines Isfahan
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia
Taban AirIsfahan, Khorramabad
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Antalya
Zagros Airlines Isfahan, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Notes

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Click Airways Erbil, Sharjah
Coyne Airways Dubai-International
SNAS/DHL Bahrain
Etihad Cargo Abu Dhabi
FitsAir Dubai-International
RUS AviationSharjah
Silk Way Airlines Baku

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

  1. Airport information for ORBI at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  2. Airport information for SDA at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  3. Technology transfer to the Middle East. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. Arango, Tim (20 November 2014). "Amid Mutual Suspicion, Turkish Premier Visits Iraq". New York Times Company. New York Times. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  5. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. August 2014. p. 22.
  6. "Etihad to start flights to Iraq". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  7. "The opinion pollsters who dodged mortar fire and militias". BBC News. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  8. "Boeing Hit by Gunfire in Baghdad". Airliner World: 83. March 2015.

External links

Media related to Baghdad International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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