Iraq signs contract with IATA to charge planes passing country’s airspace

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Transportation on Friday announced it had signed a contract with a global aviation body to collect taxes from planes passing through its airspace.

In an official statement, the Ministry stated that they had signed a contract with the International Air Travel Agency (IATA) which enabled Baghdad “to collect fees from airplanes passing through Iraq’s airspace.”

Over 8.7 million people passed through Iraqi airports in 2017, according to a report released by the Ministry last September.

The deal with IATA will “ensure secure and orderly aviation as well as considerably contributing to the growth of the country’s economy,” the statement added.

The Ministry also mentioned that traffic through the country’s airspace increased significantly after the revocation of the ban on the passage of civil aircraft over the country in December 2017 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States following the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.

On Sep. 29, the Federal Government of Iraq blocked international flights to Erbil and Sulaimani airports in retaliation to the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum which saw an overwhelming majority favoring statehood.

After almost three months, the ban continues to be in effect and has inflicted heavy financial losses to the Region’s revenue, according to officials from both airports.

The two Kurdistan Region airports handle 40-50 percent of Iraq’s total international traffic, Sulaimani Airport’s Director-General Taher Abdallah told reporters in September.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany