Felt I had to respond to the factually incorrect article, a possible spin-off from an equally inaccurate article printed in Newsweek a few weeks back. First of all, DHL does not operate any 707s. The type operated on the twice-daily BAH-SAD (for the official name of the airport is still Saddam Intl. despite what the US might try to tell us) is an Airbus A300B4 freighter. On behalf of DHL, another operator is flying there daily with An-12s.
Neil is correct, DHL crews does not receive any extras to operate the Iraq flights, which besides the A300 to Baghdad also includes 727s to Mosul and Tikrit. The 757 is also scheduled to commence operations to Iraq rather soon. However, crews can partly blame themselves as enough volunteers are present which in turn leads the company to think that incentives are not needed. Alas, until such time as the crews start to reject flying the trips, the company will not be inclined to caugh up extra dosh. And the company is making bucket loads of money from these flights; it would only be fair if some of the profits are sent in the direction of the guys and girls taking the risks.
Iīve had the oppertunity to ride the jumpseat into Saddam Intl. and it is a very interesting approach, but it's not a corkscrew. This mistake was also reported in Newsweek, but it is still incorrect. I shall refrain from posting the exact procdure, it'll be sufficient to say it's rather more steep than an LCY approach, and the go-around manouver is equally unorthodox. But itīs not a corkscrew.