Baghdad International Airport

"Baghdad Airport" redirects here. Not to be confused with Bagdad Airport.

Baghdad International Airport

مطار بغداد الدولي

Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy
Baghdad International Airport in September 2007
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorIraqi Government
LocationBaghdad, Iraq
Hub for
Elevation AMSL114 ft / 35 m
Coordinates33°15′45″N 44°14′04″E / 33.26250°N 44.23444°E / 33.26250; 44.23444
Websitebaghdadairport.gov.iq
Maps
BGW is located in Iraq
BGW
BGW
Location of airport in Iraq
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
15R/33L 10,830 3,301 Concrete
15L/33R 13,123 4,000 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers2,915,052
Aircraft operations32,549
Source: ICAA,[1] COSIT.[2]

Baghdad International Airport (IATA: BGW, ICAO: ORBI), previously Saddam International Airport from 1982 to 2003, (IATA: SDA, ICAO: ORBS) (Arabic: مطار بغداد الدولي, romanized: Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international 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

Interwar

The Baghdad West Aerodrome was made available for civilian flights of Imperial Airways on April 1st, 1929.[3]

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.[4]

1991–2003

Most of Baghdad's civilian flights stopped in 1991,[5] when the United Nations imposed restrictions on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait. After the Persian Gulf War, a no-fly zone imposed on Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom meant that Iraqi Airways was only able to continue domestic flights for limited periods.[citation needed] Occasional international charter flights carrying medicine, aid workers, and government officials were allowed into Baghdad.[6] Royal Jordanian Airlines operated regular flights from Amman to Baghdad.[citation needed]

2003–2005 (U.S. occupation)

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

In 2003, United States-led Coalition forces invaded Iraq. In early April, they moved into Baghdad, took control of the airport, and changed its name to Baghdad International Airport.[7] The ICAO code for the airport consequently changed from ORBS to ORBI. The IATA code also changed from SDA to BGW, which had previously referred to all Baghdad airports, and before that to Al Muthana Airport when Saddam Hussein was in power.

In July 2003, the airport resumed civilian flights for the first time since 1991.[5]

Babylon Terminal, Baghdad International Airport in 2022

Civilian control of the airport was returned to the Iraqi Government from the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2004.[citation needed]

2005–2011

Sather Air Base – the American base on the west side of the airport – came under periodic rocket fire from Baghdad. On 6 December 2006, a 107mm rocket attack landed 30 yards (27.5 meters) from a parked C-5A aircraft, puncturing it with scores of shrapnel holes.[citation needed]

Terminal C was refreshed with three active gate areas for carriers operating from the airport.[citation needed]

2012-Present

Baghdad Airport Road, connecting the airport to the Green Zone, once a dangerous route full of IEDs, was refurbished in 2014 with palm trees, manicured lawns, and a fountain, with Turkish assistance.[8]

On 1 May 2023, the Iraqi government under Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani approved plans to enhance services with the intention of launching an expansion project in the development of Baghdad Airport in the second half of 2023. In 2024, the airport reached the final stage of its expansion plan, according to the International Finance Corporation.

Military use

A separate enclave within the airport houses the New Al Muthana Air Base, where the Iraqi Air Force's 23rd Squadron is based, operating three Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft. The base is also home to a number of Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft.[9]

Sather Air Base, or Camp Sather, was a United States Air Force base on the west side of the airport from 2003 to 2011. 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 U.S. invasion.[10]

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.[11]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi,[12] Sharjah
AJet Ankara,[13] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[14]
ATA Airlines Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku[15]
Caspian Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Cham Wings Airlines Damascus
Egyptair Cairo
Emirates Suspended: Dubai–International[16]
flydubai Dubai–International[17]
Gulf Air Bahrain
Iran Airtour Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Iran Aseman Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Iraqi Airways Abu Dhabi, Ahmedabad, Amman–Queen Alia, Ankara, Antalya, Baku, Basra, Beijing–Capital,[18] Beirut, Berlin, Cairo, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dubai–International, Düsseldorf,[19] Erbil, Frankfurt, Guangzhou,[20] Isfahan, Islamabad, Istanbul, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Kirkuk, Kuala Lumpur–International,[21] Kuwait City, Mashhad, Moscow–Vnukovo,[22] Mumbai, Munich, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Samsun, Sharjah,[23] Sulaimaniyah, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Seasonal: Hurghada,[24] Jeddah, Medina, Sharm El Sheikh, Trabzon
Jordan Aviation Amman–Queen Alia
Mahan Air Kerman, Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Meraj Airlines Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Middle East Airlines Beirut
Nile Air Cairo
Seasonal: Sharm El Sheikh[25]
Pars Air Mashhad
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia[26]
SalamAir Muscat[27]
Sepehran Airlines Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Syrian Air Damascus
Taban Air Mashhad, Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[28]
Seasonal: Antalya
UR Airlines[29] Ankara, Antalya, Beirut, Damascus, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Samsun
Zagros Airlines Tehran–Imam Khomeini

Cargo

Aerial view of Baghdad International Airport
AirlinesDestinations
Coyne Airways Dubai-International[30]
EgyptAir Cargo Cairo[31]
Silk Way Airlines Baku[32]

Statistics

Year Passengers Cargo Aircraft operations
Total %YoY Tons %YoY Movements %YoY
2015 1,898,589 N.D. 11,657.5 N.D. 19,952 N.D.
2016 1,787,247 Decrease 5.9% 18,903.1 Increase 62.2% 16,858 Decrease 15.5%
2017 3,507,910 Increase 96.3% 33,254.8 Increase 75.9% 31,342 Increase 85.1%
2018 3,909,709 Increase 11.5% 11,027.0 Decrease 66.8% 37,751 Increase 20.4%
2019 3,778,578 Decrease 3.5% 12,057.7 Increase 9.3% 37,265 Decrease 1.3%
2020 928,876 Decrease 75.4% 6,105.3 Decrease 49.4% 11,301 Decrease 69.7%
2021 2,071,150 Increase 123.0% 7,346.7 Increase 20.3% 23,678 Increase 109.5%
2022 2,915,052 Increase 40.7% 8,803.3 Increase 19.8% 32,549 Increase 37.5%

Source: COSIT. Air Transport Activity Statistics, years 2015,[33] 2016,[34] 2017,[35] 2018,[36] 2019,[37] 2020,[38] 2021[39] and 2022.[40]

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

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