Iraq's FlyBaghdad plans European flights next year, IPO in 2020

Iraqi budget carrier FlyBaghdad aims to start flights to Europe and India next year, expanding its network beyond the Middle East and is planning a stock market listing in 2020, it CE said Wednesday. FlyBaghdad, owned by Iraqi investors, launched in 2015, competing against state-owned Iraqi Airways, one of the Middle East’s oldest airlines, and several other private carriers. “There is a huge population which are cash rich and are not too many places to visit in Iraq. Everyone is talking about travelling,” CE Ali al-Hamdany said. The Baghdad-based airline operates a fleet of two Boeing 149-seat 737-700 jets and one 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 to northern Iraqi cities Erbil and Sulaimaniya, and to Turkey’s Istanbul and Jordan’s Amman. Hamdany said FlyBaghdad would start talks with local and European regulators early next year to launch the European routes, which he said would target the Iraqi diaspora.<br/>