No one needs to tell me about the wide bodied aircraft in BIAP as i fly in and out of Baghdad on the MNG on a regular basis. In around 15 mins to be exact.
However these are cargo and i always take a big intake of breath before climbing on board. Perhaps it's the fact that i had to watch my own bird OODLL get hit and burn for 30 mins that makes me a bit jumpy.
I'm also aware that at during Nov/Dec/Jan a plane had "technical difficulties" on an average of every two or three weeks in or around BIAP. The fact that the USAF are moving ops to Balad and no longer operate C17 or C5s into BIAP on a regular basis tells you something. A C5 having "engine trouble" at 06:30 in the morning looks pretty impressive. Didn't realize they carried so many flares!
So as i now see commercial pax flights flying above me i hope you understand my concern. I'm glad that they can maintain height and get to safer airspace if they were to experience an in flight problem. If any of them needed to divert to BIAP i'll be there to meet them and our handling rates are very reasonable
Thanks for all the responses so far.