A Boeing 747SP donated to Iraq by a member of the ruling family of Qatar entered service with Iraqi Airways on 9 January on a flight from Saddam International Airport, Baghdad, to Basra in southern Iraq. The former Mandarin Airlines 747SP was given to Iraq by Shaikh Hamad bin Ali al-Thani, head of Gulf Falcon Air Services. Iraqi Airways says the 747SP will join the airline's two other airworthy fixed-wing aircraft - an Ilyushin Il-76 and an Antonov An-26 - on domestic routes linking Baghdad with Basra, and Mosul in the north. Internal flights restarted last November after an eight-year break. The new aircraft will also be used to transport Iraqi Hadj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Most of Iraqi Airways' fleet, comprising Boeing 707s, 737s and 747s, has been grounded at airports outside the country since the imposition of United Nations sanctions in 1990.
Source: Flight International
