Baghdad carrier expects to put ex-Air Canada twinjet into service this month as it prepares major growth plan
Iraqi Airways is set to take delivery of a leased Boeing 767-200 this week, and could add at least seven more Boeing aircraft to its fleet, including a 747, by the end of 2005.
The 767 is at Timco Aviation Services in Phoenix, Arizona, where the aircraft's current owner Hamilton Aerospace contracted a retrofit. Ownership of this aircraft will soon be transferred to Jordanian company Teebah Airlines, which already leases two 737-200s to the Iraqi carrier. The aircraft is due to begin service from Baghdad within the next three weeks.
This is the start of Iraqi Airways' expansion. According to Hamilton Aerospace - which was contracted to source the airline's two 737s and the soon-to-be-delivered 767 - the carrier is looking for at least another three 767s and two 737s.
"We have already sourced about half of these aircraft," says Hamilton Aerospace president John Sawyer. He adds that the purchase of a second 767 "will be closed by the end of the month", and that Iraqi Airways is planning to have four 737s and four 767s operational within the next 12 months. These aircraft will be added to the fleet at "roughly one aircraft every two months".
Sawyer also notes that the Iraqi carrier is also considering the addition of a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and possibly a 747 to its fleet.
The 767 was built in 1984 and was operated by Air Canada until August 2003, when it was retuned to then-owner Canada Trustco. Timco has carried out a cabin reconfiguration, applied a new livery and performed a C check, says Hamilton Aerospace. The 767 will be sold to Teebah, which will register it in Sierra Leone, as it has with the two 737-200s it also leases to Iraqi.
DARREN SHANNON / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
