Baghdad International Airport

Baghdad International Airport
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Baghdad_International_Airport".

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Baghdad International Airport مطار بغداد الدولي

IATA: BGW – ICAO: ORBI
Summary
Airport type		Military / Public
Operator		United States Air Force / Iraqi Government
Location		Baghdad, Iraq
Elevation AMSL		114 ft / 35 m
Coordinates		33°15′45″N 044°14′04″E / 33.2625, 44.23444
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
15R/33L	10,830	3,301	Concrete
15L/33R	13,124	4,000	Concrete
Source: DAFIF^[1]^[2]

Inside view of the terminal, showing an disfunctional and abandoned FIDS (note the FIDS still shows Iran Air, and Interflug on the screen)in front of empty check-in desks and passport control.

Baghdad International Airport (IATA: BGW, ICAO: ORBI) (Arabic:مطار بغداد الدولي); , BIAP is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about 16 km (10 miles) west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate.

1 History
- 1.1 Pre-1991
- 1.2 1991-2003
2 Current air services status
3 Airlines and destinations
4 Coalition installations
5 Incidents and accidents
6 References
7 External links

History

Pre-1991

The entrance when the airport was called Saddam International Airport

Saddam International Airport was constructed with the assistance of French firms between 1979 and 1982 at a cost of over US$900 million. Then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein authorized the airport's construction and had it named after himself.As a result the airport's three-letter IATA code became SDA.

Designed to accommodate both civil and military operations, Baghdad International can handle up to 7.5 million passengers per year in aircraft of all sizes. The passenger terminal consists of three gate areas. These were originally named after the cities of the ancient empires that once existed in present-day Iraq: Babylon, Samarra, and Nineveh. They are now simply called A, B and C.

The airport also had its own VIP terminal, which had a luxuriously furnished and decorated lounge, conference room and bedroom. This terminal is a VIP terminal, to welcome foreign leaders and other people of significance.

It is the hub for Iraq's international airline, Iraqi Airways, and it was once served by several other international airlines. On December 25, 1986, Iraqi Airways Flight 163, a Boeing 737 flying from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, was hijacked. It later crashed in Saudi Arabia, killing 63 people.

1991-2003

Baghdad International Airport

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. The Royal Jordanian planes were allowed to refuel free of charge in Iraq. This made this route very lucrative for the airline.

Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003. As a result, his name was dropped from the airport, and it is now known as Baghdad International Airport. The ICAO code for the airport consequently changed from ORBS to ORBI; however, the IATA code SDA remains. The oft misused IATA code BGW now refers to all Baghdad airports and previously was the code for Al Muthana Airport.

The most visible and notable building in this area was the Bob Hope Dining Facility, a large, white, fabric-skinned, elongated dome. President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to the Bob Hope on Thanksgiving day, November 27, 2003 and had dinner with the servicemen present.

The Bob Hope Dining Facility and the entire coalition installation on the eastern side of the airport terminal area was dismantled and the area abandoned prior to the 2004 turnover of the airport to the Iraqi people.

Terminal C, one of three gate areas, has been spruced up with new potted plants and polished floors. The duty-free shop has reopened as well. There are still renovations on-going throughout the airport to return it to its former self.

Current air services status

The airport officially reverted to civilian control on August 25, 2004. Iraqi Airways and Royal Jordanian Airlines currently operate regular flights to Amman, Jordan, and FedEx and DHL operate civilian and military cargo services. Jupiter Airlines, Ishtar Airlines, and Iraqi Airlines offer regular service to Dubai several times a week.

The airport's perimeter was regularly threatened by Iraqi insurgents through 2006; so aircraft took off and landed at the airport using a "corkscrew maneuver," a spiraling pattern of climbing and descending directly over the airport to avoid coming within range of small arms and missiles on the ground. A DHL Airbus cargo plane was hit by a surface to air missile shortly after takeoff from the airport in 2003, in what was later known as the DHL shootdown incident. The aircraft performed a successful emergency landing with serious damage to its left wing. The unusual and uncomfortable takeoff and landing procedures are still used despite the significantly improved security situation.

Due to a reduction in violence in 2008, passenger traffic at BIAP increased dramatically. Through 2005, some days saw no flights while most days were limited to one flight. The terminal appeared almost abandoned. Into 2008, there are now crowds of people, particularly on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, with long lines of passengers waiting to pass through security. Flights to Irbil, Tehran, Ankara, Basra, and other domestic or regional flights occur throughout the day. Typical weekdays include three flights to Irbil alone. Despite speculation by the media, both arriving and departing flights are typically full.

Iraqi Airways at BIAP in 2008

Since July 2003, the civilian areas of the airport have been secured by civilian contractors. From July 2003 to June 2004, an American firm, Custer Battles, secured the airport under a contract from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). At the completion of their contract, coinciding with the dissolution of the CPA, the Iraq Ministry of Transportation awarded a contract to the British security firm Global RSL.^[3] The terminal area is currently secured by a private force of 500 Iraqi and Gurkha guards. The main road from the airport to downtown Baghdad, nicknamed "Route Irish," was infamous as one of the most dangerous routes in the world - today however there is a heavy military presence across the whole route all the way to the International (Green) Zone and attacks are rare.

Most airport workers now live in a secure area located near the airport, and within the ring of Coalition military bases that surround the airport. Security within the airport complex is typical of most international airports.

On November 8, 2004, as part of a general US and Iraqi assault against Fallujah, Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi closed the airport for 48 hours, with the stated reason of preventing insurgents from leaving the country.

There have been two 48 hour closures due to pay disputes between the British Contracting firm that provides security and the Iraqi Transportation Ministry^[4]. The second time this occurred, Iraqi troops were sent in to fill the roles left behind and the Iraqi Government agreed to pay 50% of the bill.

Other airport closures in 2006 and 2007 were part of general Baghdad-wide vehicle curfews intended to hinder mobility of insurgents. As the security situation improves, this extreme tool is used less frequently.

On April 29, 2005, Air Scotland announced its intentions to begin a Glasgow-London Stansted-Irbil-Baghdad service. Although initial intentions were to begin this route in November 2005 with Tristar jetliners, this service never started and Air Scotland is now defunct.

Czech carrier Euro Air Cargo plans to launch service in the future ^[5]

In December 2006, an Iraqi Airways affiliated travel agency in the UK announced a direct Baghdad to London route scheduled to start service twice weekly in early 2007. The website^[6] even lists prices and includes the ability to book tickets. As of 2008, the route is still not operating.

In September 2008, Turkish Airlines (THY) annouced that it will commence nonstop service to and from Istanbul Ataturk International Airport three times a week. Of all foreign carriers that have announced Baghdad service , Turkish Airlines' annoucement appears to be the only credible one. The Turkish flag carrier's webpage lists that the flights will be on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. If the service launches as advertised, Turkish Airlines will be the first and only major carrier to resume scheduled service to Baghdad.

Airlines and destinations

Flying Carpet (Beirut)
Iraqi Airways (Amman, Basra, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Dubai, Erbil, Manama, Mosul, Sulaymaniyah, Tehran) [Likely to change due to instability]
Rhein Jet (Cologne-Bonn) (Starting November 27, 2008)
Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk) (Starting October 26, 2008)

Coalition installations

The following is an alphabetical list of installations within the Victory Base Complex:

Incidents and accidents

November 29, 1987: Korean Air Flight 858 - Two North Korean agents planted a bomb on the Baghdad-Abu Dhabi-Bangkok-Seoul flight. All of the passengers and crew died.