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Reuters
Iraqi Airways seeks help to operate planes
Thursday April 8, 9:49 am ET


BAGHDAD, April 8 (Reuters) - Iraq invited international investors on Thursday to help revive its national carrier by operating the five planes that remain from a once-formidable fleet.
An advertisement in a local newspaper said Iraqi Airways was accepting bids to overhaul three Boeing 727s and two 747s. The ageing planes have been sitting in the Jordanian desert and in Tunisia for over a decade.

"The planes are to be operated on joint basis, taking into consideration the experience and abilities of Iraqi Airways," the advert said.

Wars and a crippling economic embargo have wiped out most of the Iraqi Airways fleet, except for the five planes, which fled the country to avoid U.S. bombing during the 1991 Gulf War. Iraqi Airways has not operated an international flight since.

The U.S.-led administration in Iraq had planned to sell off Iraqi Airways, but the plan was scrapped after the Iraqi Governing Council objected.

The skeleton company, now deprived of its pilots and staff, retains its status as public enterprise under the transport ministry's jurisdiction.

It is not clear when an Iraqi Airways plane could take off, or even if the fleet will prove operable.

Baghdad's airport has been closed to regular traffic since last year, although it was repaired after damage from heavy bombing during the U.S.-led invasion.

Insurgents have targeted several planes flying over Baghdad with shoulder-fired missiles, and small planes landing there perform diving manoeuvres to avoid the heat-seeking missiles.