مطار بغداد الدولي Baghdad International Airport, originally Saddam International Airport, located in a suburb about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate. It is the home base for Iraqs national airline,Iraqi Airways. was constructed with the assistance of French firms between 1979 and 1982 at a cost of over US$900 million. Then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein authorized the airports construction and had it named after himself. As a result the airports three-letter IATA code became SDA Designed to accommodate both civil and military operations, Baghdad International can handle up to 7.5 million passengers per year in aircraft of all sizes. The passenger terminal consists of three gate areas. These were originally named after the cities of the ancient empires that once existed in present-day Iraq: Babylon, Samarra, and Nineveh. They are now simply called A, B and C.The airport also had its own VIP terminal, which had a luxuriously furnished and decorated lounge, conference room and bedroom. This terminal is a VIP terminal, to welcome foreign leaders and other people of significance. Baghdad International Airport was once served by several international airlines.1991-2003 Most of Baghdads civil flights stopped in 1991, when the United Nations imposed restrictions on Iraq after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. Because of the no-fly zone imposed on Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom, Iraqi Airways was only able to continue domestic flights for limited periods. Internationally, Baghdad was able to receive occasional charter flights carrying medicine, aid workers, and government officials. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated regular flights from Amman to Baghdad. The Royal Jordanian planes were allowed to refuel free of charge in Iraq. This made this route very lucrative for the airline. It then became Baghdad International Airport. The ICAO code for the airport consequently changed from ORBS to ORBI; the IATA code subsequently switched from SDA to BGW, which previously referred to all Baghdad airports and before that to Al Muthana Airport. Inside view of the terminal, showing an abandoned and nonfunctioning FIDS (note that it still shows Interflug in the fourth row from the bottom) in front of empty check-in desks and passport control. The current entrance to Baghdad International Airport, 2007 In 2003-4, the Bob Hope Dining Facility, a large, white, fabric-skinned, elongated dome, was located in the vicinity of the airport. President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to the Bob Hope Dining Facility on Thanksgiving Day, 27 November 2003 and had dinner with the servicemen present. The Bob Hope Dining Facility and all other coalition facilities on the eastern side of the airport terminal area were dismantled and removed prior to the 2004 return of the airport to Iraqi control.Terminal C, one of three gate areas, has been spruced up with new potted plants and polished floors. The duty-free shop has reopened as well. There are still renovations on-going throughout the airport to return it to its former self.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 18:34:20 +0000
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