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Iraqi Airways director general Captain Saad Al-Khafajistruck a sanguine note as he outlined the role hiscarrier will play in bringing Iraq back to the

international fold, speaking shortly after flights toLondon resumed in March.Though he made no attempt to downplay the

difficulties Iraq has faced both under Saddam Husseinand in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion he wasoverwhelmingly optimistic about the benefits that a well-funded, well-connected flag-carrier can bring to its homenation.

This is the new Iraq. We have a new political situation democracy is ruling Iraq now, he said. We want to doour best to communicate with other countries, not withguns, but with brains. And we cannot communicate withother countries unless we meet, so Iraqi Airways isbuilding bridges between the world and Iraq.

Reliable statistics are hard to come by, but none of thegroups monitoring casualties in Iraq places the figurebelow 100,000 deaths over the past decade. At the heightof the bloodletting, in 2006 and 2007, some 3,000 liveswere being lost each month. That number has sinceplummeted to around 350. While suicide bombings,kidnappings and assassinations still ward off businesstravellers and tourists, the statistical reality is that Iraq isemerging from its darkest days.

Three years ago the situation was very difficult, Al-Khafaji recalled. Every day that passes is now better thanthe day before. In the next year, I promise you, thispropaganda about explosives will go away.

The countrys profound political and military troubleslay at the heart of the Iraqi Airways decline in moderntimes. Sanctions and the no-fly zone effectively grounded

The resolution of a 23-year-old dispute between Iraq and Kuwait has opened the

door for both countries to concentrate on reviving their ailing flag carriers.

But, while Kuwaits parliament is bogged down with political apathy towards itsloss-making airline, Iraq is seizing the day with ambitious aircraft orders and

diplomatic overtures across the Arab world and beyond.

Martin Rivers talks to the Iraqi Airways director general.

the airline in the 1990s. Its fleet was spirited away by theregime and it was not until 2004 one year after theoverthrow of Saddam that scheduled flights resumed

with a single Boeing 737-200.Al-Khafaji was among the pilots operating thosefledgling services. He climbed the ranks in the difficultyears that followed, eventually succeeding Captain KifahHassan Jabar as director general in 2011.

The first major sign of progress for Iraqi Airways camein 2008, when Iraqs government signed a $5.5 billiondeal with Boeing for 40 aircraft, comprising 10 787-8Dreamliners and 30 737-800s. That was followed by anattempt to resume London services in 2010 ending atwo-decade hiatus but the inaugural flight descendedinto farce when Kuwait Airways had the aircraftimpounded and Jabar detained by British police.

The intervention capped years of asset seizures byKuwait Airways around the world, also including a raidon the Iraqi Airways offices in Jordan and the disruptionof its Bombardier jet deliveries in Canada.

Kuwaits flag-carrier held its Iraqi counterpartresponsible for $1.2 billion in damages stemming fromSaddams theft of 10 aircraft during the 1990 Gulf War. Ithad convinced Britains High Court that employees ofIraqi Airways withheld information and obstructed thereturn of the Kuwaiti aircraft.

The two sides finally settled their differences late lastyear, with Iraq paying a reduced sum of $500 million incompensation. The funds have now cleared, Al-Khafajiconfirmed, and the matter has been laid to rest.

As bad as Saddam treated his people,he treated his neighbours the same, thedirector general said. Saddam was very

A SMILE

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Iraqi Airways is buildingbridges between theworld and Iraq.

CAPTAIN SAAD AL-KHAFAJI

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We are a rich country. Our budget was $110 billionlast year, and it will increase this year, so moneyis not a big issue. Captain Saad Al-Khafaji

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keen to create problems. He wanted to be anhistoric figure, and now he is!

Although Iraq has compensated its neighbourfor the debt, Al-Khafaji admitted: Deep in myheart, I dont believe we had to pay it. But he put

aside such reservations, explaining: We are a richcountry. Our budget was $110 billion last year, andit will increase this year, so money is not a big issue.The most important thing is [foreign] relations,and a new image for Iraq. Kuwait is our neighbour that is our destiny, we cannot change it and allneighbours have their ups and downs.

He went on to draw comparisons with conflictsin Europe during the 20th century, saying: Therewere so many problems between Europeancountries but everything has been solved. Now itsback to normal, and they are united as onecommunity. Arab countries are the same.

Route network

With the Kuwaiti issue now settled and withplans for a joint airline venture between theneighbours scrapped Iraqi Airways is divinghead-first into rolling out its route network. Theflag-carrier resumed flying to Kuwait City onFebruary 27 and to London Gatwick Airport onMarch 5. Its outbound London services include astop-over in Malmo, Sweden for additionalsecurity checks, while the return flights are non-stop.

Kuwait City and London were selected as thefirst post-resolution route launches, Al-Khafajisaid, in order to prove to everybody that we havesettled our issues. As Arabian Aerospace wasgoing to press it was also expected that flights to

Frankfurt would also have resumed.Beyond that, the airline has its sights set onCopenhagen and Amsterdam first, followed byParis and either Madrid or Rome. Or maybeboth, Al-Khafaji enthused, adding that IraqiAirways expects to fly to all the major capitals inEurope but one at a time.

Notwithstanding its wider plans, London has aspecial significance to the airline. About a quarter-of-a-million Iraqis live in the UK, which createsstrong demand for the visiting friends and relatives(VFR) market. Frequencies on the Baghdad-London route will rise from twice-weekly to fourtimes weekly in June, while the London-boundservice from Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq willalso double to twice weekly. In the past there werethree flights a day to London, Al-Khafaji noted.Iraqis love London.

Looking beyond the VFR market, there is anappetite in both countries for closer business ties.UK-based conglomerates like BP and G4S alreadyhave a strong presence in Iraq, Al-Khafaji noted,adding: We want British companies to come andinvest in Iraq, to help build Iraq with othercountries. We are great believers in the technologythat the British have. They are good hard workers,and they are intelligent.

Further afield, Iraqi Airways is committed torestoring its former links with the Far East. Theairline expects to launch flights to Kuala Lumpur

in Malaysia, replacing a joint venture that had, untilrecently, been operated with AirAsia. Its future

route network will also likely include the Chinesecities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as wellas the Thai capital Bangkok.

Nor will it be long before Iraqi tailfins appearover American skies an unthinkable prospect justa decade ago. The US embassy in Baghdad hasbeen instrumental in helping to speed up theprocess of launching flights to New York and

Washington, Al-Khafaji noted.

Growth trajectoryWith such an ambitious growth trajectory, it isclear that the 21-strong Iraqi Airways fleet mustexpand. Prior to its London launch, the airlineserved just 12 destinations across the Middle East,North Africa, central Asia and India. A wholesalemove into Europe and Asia will requiresignificantly more wide-body jets. Mindful that itsDreamliners will not arrive for several years, IraqiAirways has wasted little time in procuringindividual units from both Boeing and Airbus.

Three A320s, two A321s, one A330 and one777-200LR have entered the fleet since the dealwas reached with Kuwait Airways. Theseselective deliveries underscore the airlines desireto make up for lost ground as quickly as possible,and talks are on-going with both manufacturers.

On the wide-body front, Iraqi Airways isnegotiating near-term deliveries of another two777-200LRs, which will be deployed on long-haul

routes, including the upcoming US services. Theflag-carrier also expects to exercise its five

Dreamliner options, Al-Khafaji confirmed, thoughhe declined to give delivery dates, saying only thaBoeing promised that they will give us theDreamliners in a short time not a very shortime.

Part of the airlines 737-800 order will beupgraded to -900s. And even though the SkInterior jets will start arriving in July we orderedthe best money can buy touch-screeneverywhere Al-Khafaji indicated that furthenarrow-body orders with Airbus are on the cards

Confirming that the third A320 arrived inBaghdad on March 7, the director general said: Iis not the last one. I can promise you its not the lasone. He would not be drawn on the size opossible future commitments but conceded thatalks are under way about a good number.

Hinting at a possible large-scale order, he addedthat European financiers have expressed aninterest in funding an Airbus order. There arsome European investors looking to do somebusiness, he said. There are hiddenconversations.

Asked about the order for 10 BombardieCRJ900s, which Kuwait Airways disrupted aftesix deliveries, Al-Khafaji said the outstanding fouunits could be converted. My opinion is I want tchange them to CSeries, he said,adding that Iraqi Airways wouldreturn four of its CRJ900s in

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EASA 147 Approved Training Organisation

IATA TrainingsAviation English

Flight Phobia Programme

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exchange for the newer type. The CSeries is areasonable aircraft for the region. This is underdiscussion. We have an agreement, but it is notsettled.

One of the reasons for expanding so rapidly is

that Iraqi Airways wants to show the rest of worldit can stand on its own two feet. To that end, Al-Khafaji rebuffed a proposal to codeshare withEtihad, and he is reluctant to strike fifth-freedomdeals with US carriers.

If I do codesharing or joint ventures with othercompanies, we will be the underdog, heexplained. We dont like that. We will go [intopartnerships] when we can be head-to-head,shoulder-to-shoulder. Asked whether he wouldconsider sharing traffic with an American airline,he said: I could do it right away with a US carrier ifI wanted. But I want to fly our aircraft with our flag.

Whatever it takes, Ill wait.Amid all the talk of expansion, the director

general inevitably turned his attention toBaghdads prospects as a regional hub. Heremained down-to-earth, distinguishing betweennear-term opportunities and long-termaspirations.

Before, we were number one in the region.Now we are number last, he said with a wry smile.We will do it slowly. If we deserve to have aposition, well have our position.

Three Gulf hubs

Noting that the United Arab Emirates is investing$135 billion in its aviation industry, Al-Khafaji saidBaghdad cannot challenge the big three Gulf hubsat present. But he insisted the groundwork is being

laid for a viable intercontinental hub, with Iraqiauthorities committed to reducing fuel prices,maintaining impenetrable security, and signingground handling contracts with globallyrecognised firms.

Ive said it before, and Im saying it now.Careful of the new tsunami, the director generalbeamed. The tsunami is coming. Of course I amtrying to make Baghdad International Airport thehub for international carriers. Well make it verysafe, very easy to handle, and low-cost. So mostcompanies will land in Baghdad to go to the Eastand to the West. It will be the hub.

Al-Khafaji has spent almost his entireprofessional life in aviation, having graduated fromOxford Aviation Academy in 1977. For a briefperiod, however, following the loss of his father toSaddams regime, he turned his hand to the fabricindustry. My father was a well-known industrialman, so I followed in his footsteps, he recalled. Itwas a good job. I made some profit from it, and Ilearned how to deal with the business market.

Describing this interlude as a good academyfor his business sensibilities, Al-Khafaji espouses aholistic approach to making Iraqi Airwaysprofitable. When you do something you believein, even though you dont think about profit, profitwill come, he concluded. You have to serve yourbusiness right. Do the best you can do. Later on,you will find yourself getting profit.

As the national carrier, it is no surprise that Iraqi Airways operates the lions share of passenger services atBaghdad International Airport.

In March 2013, the airline was responsible for 55% of flights and 40% of capacity, as measured in availableseat kilometres.

But growing optimism about Baghdads prospects as a business hub has seen a raft of airlines launchservices to the gateway in recent years. Though Austrian remains the only western carrier to serve Iraqscapital, it has already attracted most of the regions mainstream airlines. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways,Gulf Air, EgyptAir, Royal Jordanian, Turkish Airlines, FlyDubai and Air Arabia all operate scheduled flights toBaghdad.

Efforts to court more international carriers will hinge on the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authoritys (ICAA) ability toconvince foreign governments that security at Baghdad Airport is watertight. The anxiety that many countriesstill have about opening up direct air services to Baghdad is illustrated by the UKs Department for Transport(DfT), which has insisted that the new Iraqi Airways London service includes a stop-over in Malmo, Swedenfor extra security checks.

But, since January 2 2010, UK-based G4S has been contracted to deliver security services at the gateway.

A senior G4S official explained: Our aim here is to try and make Baghdad Airport look like any otherairport elsewhere in the world. The G4S uniforms youll see in the terminal are exactly the same ones youllsee in the UK, and thats all part of the normality.

G4Ss operations at the airport are broadly split into two categories. The ground security divisioncomprises staff manning the perimeter checkpoints and the quick reaction force. They have blue shirts andcarry visible weapons. The aviation security employees within the terminal, meanwhile, have white shirtsand are unarmed. Its a much more international look, the official said.

o o o o o

Around 85% of the G4S staff securing Baghdad Airport are Iraqis and the aim is to continue growing thisnumber. In 2011, the company sent two Iraqi managers to the UK to attend the DfTs Level 3 aviation securitymanagers course. Then, in February, another 11 ICAA employees, including three women, were trained on theLevel 1 course. In both cases, the students performed extremely well, the official said. Theyre very, veryclever people.

He continued: Previously there hasnt been infrastructure [in Baghdad] for training specifically in aviationsecurity. So part of G4Ss role here has been to coach and mentor the ICAA to international standards. Our aimis to get more Iraqis into management positions. In time, when our client is happy, all the guys with blue eyeswill be out of the country and itll be just like any other airport in the world, run by locals for locals.

The guidance proffered by G4S includes advice on the interpretation of ICAO Annex 17, which is thebenchmark for protection against acts of unlawful interference. Its progress will become clearer this autumn,when ICAO conducts an audit of Baghdad Airport to assess compliance with internationally recognisedstandards.

Several western governments have already visited the airport to conduct their own inspections, theofficial confirmed, including representatives from the relevant authorities in America, France and Britain.

Asked what safety shortcomings have necessitated the Iraqi Airways stop-over in Malmo, the DfT said:The Department continues to work closely with the Iraqi authorities regarding flight operations between ourtwo countries. However, it is a matter for individual governments to determine whether direct flights fromanother state should be allowed.

The G4S official declined to comment on the DfT stance, but he asserted: Because of the resources that gointo making sure as little as possible if anything goes wrong, I feel just as safe flying in here as I do flyinginto London. This feels like a safer airport than it did when the Coalition was here.

Security the key to Baghdad

International Airports future

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