Wednesday 1 November 2023

Interview: Basheer Al-Shabbani, Fly Baghdad CEO


Full article in PDF format: page 17-18 & cover

Back in 2013, Saad Al-Khafaji, the then director general of Iraqi Airways, beamed from cheek to cheek while talking to Arabian Aerospace about the coming “tsunami” in Baghdad.

Unfortunately, the surge in tourism and business traffic predicted by Al-Khafaji never materialised – replaced, instead, by a brutal Daesh insurgency that would paralyse Iraq and the Middle East for years. The devastating fallout of that conflict continues to this day. But, with security now largely restored, hopes are rising once again that Baghdad will rehabilitate its image on the world stage.

And, while the flag-carrier has succeeded in doubling its fleet and rebuilding much of its pre-war network, it’s the private sector that’s arguably taken the biggest strides forward for civil aviation...

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