Iraqi Airways

Friday, June 27, 2008
By David MacDougall

Iraqi Airways flying high as country continues to rebuild

There was a time when Iraqi Airways criss-crossed the globe, operating flights from Baghdad to cosmopolitan destinations including Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Bombay and a host of other cities.

But that was nearly three decades ago — before the economically ruinous Iran-Iraq war, two other wars involving the United States and its allies, a no-fly zone and crippling U.N. sanctions.
The long slide into decay was both painful and inevitable. By the time Saddam Hussein was toppled from power in 2003, numerous abandoned Iraqi Airways jets sat rusting on the tarmac in at least three regional airports, and the company was locked in a bitter legal dispute with the government of Kuwait over assets looted during the first Gulf War.

These days, things are starting to look better for the airline. A colossal $5.5 billion contract between Iraqi Airways and Boeing — among the largest the fledgling Iraqi government has funded to date — was recently signed to foster its expansion.

It was an important moment in the country's post-war development — and its significance was underscored by the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other dignitaries at the contract-signing ceremony last month. The multi-billion dollar order shows a confidence in growth that was not evident even a year ago.

That jewel in Iraqi Airways' crown will buy 50 new and second-hand jets from Boeing and Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, including 10 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliners.

The first Bombardier plane will be delivered to the airline in August, according to Iraqi Airways director general Capt. Kifah Hassan Jabar, and more will follow.

"Every two months, we will deliver another aircraft," he told FOX News. The whole fleet of planes will arrive by 2018 under the agreement between Boeing and the government of Iraq.

This new era of expansion for Iraq's national carrier has ruffled some feathers, however.
Boeing's main rival, the European consortium Airbus Industries, was not invited to bid for the Iraqi Airways contract, even though many other regional airlines operate its planes.

Kifah explained the exclusion of Airbus by detailing the legacy between Iraqi Airways and Boeing. The airline has a longstanding relationship with Boeing dating back to 1974, he said.
"The first 747 jumbo was operated by Iraqi Airways. All our pilots, our present pilots and engineers, were from Boeing," said Kifah. "We're looking forward to having the same with Boeing in the future."

And in that vein, Iraqi Airways is pushing forward.

Its new management team and new routes, freshly leased aircraft and passenger counts that would make other carriers jealous have helped boost business at the perennially down-at-the-heel state-owned enterprise.

While many airlines are cutting back services — or even going bankrupt — due to high fuel prices, lower passenger returns and rising operating costs, Iraqi Airways remains somewhat shielded by those market forces because it's part of a state-run organization.

The airline boasts some impressive numbers. Its most popular route, a daily service to Dubai, is 98 to 100 percent sold out.

But Iraqi Airways also has hurdles to overcome — for one, the company's late re-entry into an already crowded regional market.

Since the carrier last offered full-service flights, the Middle Eastern airline sector has grown to be much more lucrative and competitive.

Well-known brand name carriers like Emirates, Gulf Air and Royal Jordanian are long established.
More recent expansion by Ethihad and Qatar Airways give travelers (especially premium passengers) little reason to fly with Iraqi Airways — which is often jokingly called "Inshallah (God Willing) Airlines."

"Frankly speaking, we cannot compete with them for the next few years for many reasons," Kifah said. "They are well established and well supported by their governments."

For the time being, however, Iraqi Airways has something of a monopoly on operations by national flag-carriers at Baghdad International Airport.

Kifah doesn't think that Emirates, for example, will be competing on the high-yield Baghdad-Dubai route for some time to come. And demand for flights aboard the war-torn country's national airline is already particularly strong in Iraqi immigrant communities in Scandinavia, Germany, Britain and the United States.

"The Iraqis, for one reason or another, they are very keen to fly with Iraqi Airways," he told FOX News. "I cannot say why exactly, but I think they like their national carrier and try to support it in some way or another."

Ten Iraqis You Should Know

Ten Iraqis You Should Know

10 Iraqis You Should Know

By David Mac Dougall & Ghalib Tawfiq, Baghdad Bureau

After years of reporting from Iraq, viewers are familiar with some of the most common personalities connected with events here: from Saddam Hussein to Prime Minister Maliki; Moqtada al-Sadr to Ayatollah Sistani. But what about some other Iraqis making an impact in their chosen professions?

We put together a list of ten people we think you should know about. Click their name to learn more about them!

Dana Abdul Razzaq: Iraqi Olympic athlete
Hassan Abdulrazzak: Author / playwright
Nashat Akram: Star player on Iraq’s national soccer team
Suhair al-Qaisi: Iraqi journalist for Arabiya TV
Dr Ala Bashir: Plastic surgeon
Ayad Jamal al-Din: Shiite member of parliament
Maysoon al-Damluji: Women’s rights activist
Nadhmi Auchi: Businessman & philanthropist
Hussain al Shahristani: Minister for Oil
Zaha Hadid: Architect

• Dana Abdul-Razzaq

21-year-old Dana Abdul-Razzaq is Iraq’s top female athlete, and the only Iraqi woman who’s heading to the Beijing Olympics in August. Although she’s only been sprinting for the last five years, she’s aiming to run 100 and 200 meter races in Beijing – and has already set a new Iraqi record over 200 meters at the Arab Games in Cairo last year. Dana has already faced many hardships preparing for the Olympics – shot at by a sniper while training, and getting caught in a drive-by shooting. And although she dresses modestly when she competes – leggings under shorts – she’s still received many threats from extremists.

• Hassan Abdulrazzak

Hassan Abdulrazzak was born in Iraq, but lived for many years in Egypt and Algeria. Although he’s a trained microbiologist, he’s also a talented playwright. His first ever play, “Baghdad Wedding” tells the story of three friends (an author, an engineer and a doctor) who return to Baghdad after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein to attend a wedding. They get caught up in the violence of post-war Iraq and endure terrible hardships. The play was produced in London in summer 2007, and went on to win a $20,000 award for new writing – it was also broadcast as a radio play earlier this year.

• Nashat Akram

23-year-old Nashat Akram is a midfield player for the Iraqi national soccer team. In recent years the team has been very successful: earning a 4th place spot at the 2004 Athens Olympics; a silver medal at the 2006 Asia Games in Doha and winning the 2007 Asia Cup.
The Iraqi soccer team – with Nashat Akram as captain – narrowly failed in their bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. However, they knocked out some big name teams, like China, along the way. Earlier this year Nashat Akram signed with English soccer side Manchester City, but was unable to take the job due to problems with his work permit. He currently plays club soccer in Qatar.

See also: www.nashatakram.net

• Suhair al-Qaisi

Born in Baghdad, 24 year old Suhair al-Qaisi is one of the most well-known anchors on Arabiya TV – a satellite news channel broadcast from Dubai, but seen across the Middle East. Originally training to be a dentist, she switched track to become a journalist instead. In 2007 she was selected by the Red Crescent to become one of their Goodwill Ambassadors. On Arabiya TV, Suhair al-Qaisi hosts a weekly program about Iraq called “From Iraq”.

• Ala Bashir

Dr Ala Bashir was one of the first plastic surgeons in Iraq, and he became nationally famous for treating thousands of victims during the Iraq-Iran war. His work brought him to the attention of Saddam Hussein – and for 15 years he worked as the former dictator’s personal physician, which he later wrote about in a book called “Saddam’s Doctor: An Insider’s Story”. Dr Bashir is also an accomplished artist, and his paintings are exhibited at a gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.

See also: www.alabashir.com

• Ayad Jamal Addin

Iyad Addin is a politician, a cleric, and a strong advocate for the separation of church and state. He’s also come under fire for his secular political beliefs, surviving at least four assassination attempts. Jamal Addin was born in Najaf, a mostly Shiite city in southern Iraq. He fled Iraq in the late 1970s, first to Syria, then to Iran, where he studied theology and philosophy for eight years. He returned to Iraq in 2003 following the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and is a member of parliament for the Iraqi National List party. He wears the traditional head-dress and robes of a Muslim cleric – but believes that Iraq should be a secular state, where politics is free from religious interference. He’s faced a lot of criticism from fellow Shiite clerics for his beliefs.

• Maysoon al-Damluji

Maysoon al-Damluji is an Iraqi politician, a member of parliament for the city of Mosul. She’s also an architect and campaigner for women’s rights. After many years in exile in London, al-Damluji returned to Iraq after the war and worked inside government as Deputy Culture Minister. She also set up the Iraqi Independent Women’s Group (IIWG), an organization dedicated to promoting women’s rights issues. Two founding members of the IIWG have been assassinated in recent years, yet Maysoon al-Damluji continues her work despite the dangers.

See also: www.iiwg.org/index2.html

• Nadhmi Auchi

Billionaire, businessman, philanthropist and humanitarian – Nadhmi Auchi wears many hats. After graduating from Baghdad’s prestigious Mustansiriyah University, Auchi worked for Iraq’s oil ministry, before starting his own company – General Mediterranean Holding – of which he is still chairman. Now living in the UK, London’s Sunday Times last year named Madhmi Auchi the 18th richest person in Britain, with a fortune estimated around $3.8 billion. He recently launched a new fellowship in conjunction with the American University in Cairo, to mentor ten future business leaders from the Arab world. For his work in business and philanthropy, Nadhmi Auchi has received honors from the Pope and Queen Elizabeth, among others.

• Hussain al Shahristani

In charge of Iraq’s oil ministry, Hussain Shahristani is arguably one of the most powerful men in the country. Iraq has vast untapped oil wealth, and Shahristani has been at the center of negotiations to award contracts to western companies like BP, Shell, Chevron and Exxon. Each individual contract is said to be worth $500 million. In the 1970s, Hussain al Shahristani was one of Iraq’s most promising young nuclear scientists, but he was imprisoned and tortured at Abu Ghraib for 11 years for encouraging Shiites in the military to rebel against Saddam Hussein. During his time in prison, Shahristani reportedly refused to work on building a nuclear bomb. He is a member of the United Iraqi Alliance political party – an alliance of mostly Shiite politicians.

• Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid is an internationally renowned architect, who has designed some spectacular buildings around the world – including a museum building at Michigan State University, and a contemporary arts center in Cincinnati (which the New York Times described as “the most important American building to be completed since the cold war”).
Born in Baghdad, Hadid studied in Beirut and London – before setting up her own architectural practice in the early 1980s. She has taught at Harvard, Ohio State, Yale and the University of Illinois School of Architecture in Chicago. In 2004 she became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize (the architecture world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize)

See also:
www.zaha-hadid.com & www.contemporaryartscenter.org

Honorable Mentions

Dia Azzawi: One of Iraq’s best-known artists

Ghada al-Taie: Baghdad ballet school teacher