Cablegate: (U) Sulaymaniyah Airport Goes International

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS KIRKUK 000293

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/I
BAGHDAD FOR POL, ECON, FCS, NCT, IRMO/TRANSPORT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ECON PGOV IZ IRMO
SUBJECT: (U) SULAYMANIYAH AIRPORT GOES INTERNATIONAL

REF: BAGHDAD 3994

(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

1. (U) SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION: Sulaymaniyah airport has begun
international operations, with weekly flights to Amman and Dubai
via Baghdad on Iraqi Airways. On December 10, the Turkish
private airline Fly Air inaugurated its service to Istanbul.
Other destinations are to be added shortly after the December 15
elections. Turkey has agreed to issue airport visas to Iraqi
travelers arriving from Sulaymaniyah. END SUMMARY AND
INTRODUCTION.

2. (U) Sulaymaniyah Airport Director General Kamaran Ahmed
Abdullah proudly told Regional Coordinator and USAID
representative December 11 that the new Sulaymaniyah airport was
built by a Turkish contractor in only 15 months, at a cost of
$38 million funded entirely by the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG). He said the runway is 3500 meters long and 45 meters
wide, made of concrete 40-cm thick. He said the Iraqi
Government had approved customs and immigration procedures in
October and "last week the NOTAM office approved our getting the
code." The terminal, which is quite small, will become the
domestic terminal when a larger international terminal is built.
Before the end of December, Fly Air will offer two flights per
week to Istanbul, continuing on to Frankfurt and Stockholm, and
weekly flights to Amsterdam and London. Another carrier,
Jupiter, is proposing twice-weekly flights to Dubai.

3. (U) Kamaran highlighted Turkey's agreement to issue airport
visas to Iraqis arriving from Sulaymaniyah. He said the
arrangement is reciprocal, and that the Iraqi Ministry of
Interior has been cooperative.

4. (SBU) COMMENT: With these developments, the
KRG-Sulaymaniyah is catching up with its partner and rival, the
KRG-Erbil, whose international airport has been functioning for
some time.
BELL

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