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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2235.PDF
59° FLIGHT AROUND IRAQI AIRWAYS By GEOFFREY DORMAN, A.R.Ae.S. The area—one very much in the news at the moment—in which the author's Iraqi Airways tour was made. ^Aleppo -R Or antes 'HornsTmpofis SYRIAN ^Damascus i P.? £ ERT T~l - Jordan Dead Sea- j/) Shaibah* \ <OO Qatar iPeninsul A Small But Efficient Organization Operating with B.O.A.C-trained Personnel AIRLINE-touring, with an eye both to scenery and technicalequipment, is a hobby of Geoffrey Donnan's. Previous tours have been described by him in "Flight" of January 12th, 1950(By Solent to Nyasaland), July 13th, 1951 (West African Airways) and October 5th, 1951 (Central African Airways). IN August last I made a tour of a considerable section ofIraqi Airways routes; this is a state-owned corporation,and is a department of Iraqi State Railways, under whom the airline operates. The director-general of the State Railways is W. J. Moffat, C.B.E., and the manager of Iraqi Airways is Col. Sabah El Said, a thoroughly keen and knowledgeable aviation type, who is son of the Prime Minister of Iraq. During the heat of the day most business is suspended, but I found Col. Said was never too busy to talk about flying. He invited me to meet him at the Railway Club in Baghdad, and we sat beside the swimming pool and talked aviation like a<'couple of old hands. The airline's commercial manager is Sayid Kanaan Al Askari. Just as the R.A.F. are advisers to, and train, the personnel of the Iraqi Air Force, so Iraqi Airways personnel are advised and trained by B.O.A.C. and I found that a very happy relationship An air view of the city of Baghdad, with the Tigris running through the southern part of its centre. Baghdad West Airport is in the right back- ground, just beyond the bend in the river. existed between the two airlines and between Iraq and the U.K. The chief pilot is Capt. T. M. Walters, who is seconded from B.O.A.C., and he also has with him Capt. Arthur Trebble and Capt. Ralph Watts, both seconded from B.O.A.C. There are three Iraqi captains, all of whom were trained by B.O.A.C. and did part of that training with Air Service Training, Ltd., at Hamble. These Iraqis are Capt. Ismail ("Sam") Fattah (senior captain), Capt. Yousif El Koury, and Capt. Ahmed Tikriti. I flew once in a very bad sandstorm with Capt. Fattah, and he inspired very great confidence; I would have found it difficult, if I had not been told beforehand, to distinguish his flying from that of a B.O.A.C. pilot. He is, too, fair-skinned, talks aviation slang just like a Briton, and knows just how to keep his passengers happy in the true B.O.A.C. style. The Iraqi fleet consists of three Vikings and three Doves. First officers, radio officers, navigators, and stewards are all Iraqis. Pat Gillibrand of B.O.A.C., who has recently come to Baghdad after being for some years on the sales side in Hong Kong, is B.O.A.C. representative in Iraq, and was also full-time commercial adviser to Iraqi Airways. His advice was so good that I.A. are beginning to stand on their own feet, so Pat now holds the title of B.O.A.C. representative and is available for consultation to Iraqi Airways for 45 per cent of his time. A. D. Bennett, A.F.C., whose second name is Donald and who is known throughout the Middle East as "Don Bennett" (though he should not be confused with the famous air vice-marshal of the same name), is seconded from B.O.A.C. as technical adviser and is regarded by the Iraqis as a very sound man and one easy to get on with. He succeeded Col. M. C. P. Mostert, O.B.E., who, said Gillibrand, had done more than anyone else to put Iraqi Airways on a firm footing in their early days The headquarters and booking office are in the main street of Baghdad, not far from the Semiramis Hotel, with more offices at Baghdad West Air Port, where there is also hangarage and a main- tenance base. The airport closely adjoins the main Baghdad railway station and it is the intention^ in the course of time, to have the airport building and station building in one, so that passengers can get straight from a train into an airliner, or vice versa. This will necessitate only the diversion of the taxi tracks and new hard-standing. A combined railway station and airport building is believed to be unique. The airport, which lies about half a mile south of the River Tigris, is large, with splendid runways and unobstructed approaches. The principal Iraqi Airways routes are Baghdad to Basra (276 miles), Basra to Kuwait (82), Kuwait to Bahrein (269), Baghdad to Teheran (428), Baghdad to Damascus (470) and Baghdad to Beirut direct (513). Many services from Baghdad to Beirut call at Damascus, which is 43 miles from Beirut. Baghdad to Cairo direct is 796 miles; some services call at Damascus. There are also services from Baghdad to Mosul (224 miles), Mosul to Aleppo (336) and Baghdad to Jedda (925). There are immense possibilities for expansion, for Baghdad Railways are not very extensive, consisting mainly of a single route to Basra in the south and to Mosul in the north, then to the Syrian border where it joins the line to Aleppo and Beirut. The roads of Iraq must be among the very worst in the world. The second-class routes such as that from Baghdad to the Arch 01 Ctesiphon would compare unfavourably with an English farm-
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