BAGHDAD, 2 July 2003 — The US-led occupation authority in Iraq called on international airlines yesterday to apply to resume commercial flights to Baghdad airport, in a move designed to boost the country’s economy.
“The reopening of passenger service to Baghdad International Airport will be a boost for the economy and an important milestone in reintroducing Iraq to the world’s civil aviation community,” US overseer Paul Bremer said in a statement.
Resumption of commercial overflights through Iraqi airspace will also help generate funds to fuel the country’s civil aviation and economy, said the statement of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
The invitation to international airlines to resume operations to Iraq was also “a positive sign that the reopening of Baghdad International Airport is imminent,” it said.
On June 10, the US military’s Central Command said it expected Baghdad airport to open in mid-July, although Bremer had since been less committal, declining to give any date.
A number of foreign airlines have been pushing for some time for the reopening of the airport, which remains home to about 30,000 US troops and is now restricted to military, humanitarian and administration flights.
The state of what used to be Saddam International Airport — the scene of fierce fighting in the dying days of the regime until Baghdad’s fall on April 9 — poses another major obstacle to resuming flights. “Preparations are also underway to return civil aviation to (the southern) Basra International Airport this summer and eventually open Mosul Airport (in the north) to international air traffic,” said the CPA statement.
The United States will provide radar separation for air traffic, while Australia and Britain are to provide terminal air traffic control at the Baghdad and Basra airports respectively.
The statement said interested airlines were “invited to file applications with the CPA (which) will select on or about July 10, 2003 those companies which they judge will best serve ongoing reconstruction efforts.”