ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s transport ministry told Rudaw on Sunday that efforts to lift the ban on flights through European airspace have reached an advanced stage, highlighting that the national carrier, Iraqi Airways, currently operates more than 40 domestic and international destinations.
Ministry spokesperson Maysam al-Safi said significant progress has been made in meeting international aviation safety standards. “We have reached an advanced stage, implementing 81 percent of the requirements under [the International Air Transport Association] IATA’s Operational Safety Audit [IOSA] program,” Safi said.
The program is a globally recognized evaluation system that assesses airlines’ operational management and control systems against nearly 1,000 standardized safety requirements.
Safi added that Iraqi Airways is currently in the preparatory phase to “obtain the [Third Country Operator] TCO certificate, which would pave the way for its return to European skies.”
In parallel with efforts to lift the ban, the ministry is also preparing to open several new regional and European destinations and is awaiting procedures from the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) to finalize the process, the spokesperson further explained.
Iraqi Airways, one of the Middle East’s oldest carriers, has been barred from EU airspace since 2015 due to repeated safety violations. Along with the privately owned airline Fly Baghdad, it remains on the EU’s list of prohibited carriers, with only limited exceptions.