Iraqi Airways’ first A220 lands in Baghdad amid hope EU flight ban will be lifted

Iraqi Airways’ first Airbus A220-300 landed in Baghdad on 9 January amid government optimism that the airline will soon be able to resume commercial flights to Europe. The aircraft arrived at Baghdad International airport from Manchester airport in the UK, on a two-legged delivery journey that began at the airframer’s Canadian facility at Mirabel. “The receipt of this newly-made aircraft coincides with a time when Iraqi Airways is very close to resolving the lifting of the European ban on it, which gives it enough space to enter strongly in competition with other carriers,” says Iraq’s transport minister Nasser Hussain Bandar Al-Shibli during a ceremony at Baghdad International airport. Iraqi Airways was added to the European Commission’s airline blacklist in late 2015 because of “unaddressed safety concerns” and has remained there since. The list was last updated on 26 November 2021 and is also followed by the UK. The airline served European destinations including Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Malmo, Stockholm and Vienna before the ban was imposed.<br/>