Baghdad International Airport, previously Saddam International Airport from 1982 to 2003, is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about 16 km 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.

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.

1991–2003

Most of Baghdad's civilian flights stopped in 1991, 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. Occasional international charter flights carrying medicine, aid workers, and government officials were allowed into Baghdad. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated regular flights from Amman to Baghdad.

2003–2005 (U.S. occupation)

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

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

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. 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. 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.

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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Source: COSIT. Air Transport Activity Statistics, years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Incidents and accidents