DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW / LONDON
With fleet wrecked or dispersed, Baghdad could resurrect defunct carrier or start afresh
Iraq's US-led interim administration is leaving the task of creating a flag carrier to the country's new government, as part of the process to transfer authority to the Iraqi people.
Civil aviation in Iraq is being overseen by Frank Hatfield, the US Federal Aviation Administration's eastern region air traffic manager.
Hatfield, who is senior adviser for civil aviation to the Iraqi ministry of transport - itself headed at present by Stephen Browning of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority - says "the people of Iraqi Airways want to get it up and flying just as soon as they can. But this is the call of the government of Iraq."
It is not clear whether the new Iraqi government will choose to rebuild Iraqi Airways or start afresh with a new airline. Hatfield says a number of unsolicited proposals from companies have been submitted, offering to restore the country's airline system.Iraqi Airways, which has 2,300 staff, saw much of its fleet dispersed to other countries - such as Jordan and Tunisia - at the time of the first Gulf conflict.
Hatfield says that an audit of the airline is being carried out to determine the status of the fleet and its other assets, and he hopes this will be completed within five weeks - just before a new minister for transport and communications is expected to be appointed.
Iraq's main services are being restored under the supervision of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), which says that it is "confident" that Iraq will eventually have a national carrier.
The ORHA believes that Iraqi Airways has 23 aircraft. Although several aircraft are parked at Baghdad with engines removed, at least 10 were ferried out of the country, while another pair were destroyed during hostilities.
The ORHA says around 30 airlines have so far applied to operate services to Baghdad International Airport. "There are quite a few regional [airlines] but they are mostly European," it says, adding that the successful applicants should be announced "in the next couple of weeks". Meanwhile, the ORHA says it has not set a date for the opening of the airport to commercial flights, despite earlier hopes that it would be operational this month.Source: Flight International
