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Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945. The first planes used were Dragon Rapids . For the next fiscal decade, until 1955, these planes were alternated with Vickers Viscounts. By 1955, however, the Viscounts took over all of Iraqi Airways' services.
The 1960s arrived, and so did the jet age. Iraqi Airways was quick to modernize, buying Russian built Tupolev TU-124 planes as well as British built Tridents. These jets allowed Iraqi Airways to increase service across the Middle East, to Africa and Europe. During that time, cargo airplanes such as the Il-76 arrived.
During the 1970s, Iraqi Airways was granted a route to JFK International Airport in New YorkNew York is a state in the northeastern United States whose U. postal abbreviation is NY . It is sometimes called New York State when there is need to distinguish it from New York City. History See: History of New York New York was one of the thirteen col, and because of that, it needed a bigger jet, so it went to (then) Seattle based BoeingThe Boeing Company ( NYSE:BA) is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities near Seattle, Washington. It is also a defense contractor. It is listed on the New York Sto and bought 707The Boeing 707 is a four engined commercial passenger jet aircraft developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Although it was not the first commercial jetliner in service (that distinction belongs to the De Havilland Comet), it was the first one to be commer jets. Soon after, the Boeing 747The Boeing 747 also popularly known as the jumbo jet is the second largest passenger airliner after Airbus A380. Until the first commercial flight of the A380 in 2006, however, it remains the largest aircraft in commercial service. The four-engine 747, pr also arrived. In 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings., Saddam HusseinSaddm Hussein 'Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti Hussein also spelled Husayn and Hussain Arabic: ; born April 28, 1937 1) was President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. A rising star in the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular Arab nationalism, economic mod became president of Iraq, in a moment that would later prove to be a turning point for the airline.
Iraqi Airways kept flying during the 1980s to most cities where it had established routes to. The Iraq- Iran battle did little to undermine the airline's activities. In what could be considered by some to be an ironic twist to the trend, in 1986 a Boeing 737 of Iraqi Airways, flying from Saddam International Airport in Baghdad to Jordan, was attacked by terrorists. Although the plane tried to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, the terrorists threw a bomb into the plane's cockpit, and its destruction caused the plane to crash resulting in the deaths of 61 of the 103 people on board. (See: Iraqi Airways Hijacking) Iraqi Airways has, to date, had ten air tragedies.
Since Iraq's invasion in 1991 of Kuwait, Iraqi Airways has been grounded by the United Nations' sanctions against Iraq. Before the invasion started, Iraqi Airways had 17 jets, all of which were moved to secret locations, mainly in Jordan.
Through that ordeal, many of the airline's 800 employees stayed faithful, and their mechanics supposedly even owned Iraq's only jet engine, where they would practice in hopes the airline would someday need their services as much as it once did.
Because Iraqi Airways is allowed to fly domestically, it continued service to smaller cities, such as Basra. However, domestic flights became a rarity too, because of the No-Fly Zone imposed by the United States and United Kingdom over Iraqi skies. On occasions, Iraqi Airways would also fly pilgrims to Muslim religious cities during the '90s.