I flew Iraqi Airways, an transporter few Americans have informed and is banned in the EU. Here were the 4 biggest surprises.

I'm an American university pupil alongside a enthusiasm for flying airlines that most group have never heard of. When I established a $123 economics ticket on Iraqi Airways, I booked it without a second thought.

When I started telling people, the reply was continually the same. Nobody I said to knew Iraq's national transporter existed, and most questioned if it was safe. Decades of war and sanctions have remaining the transporter comparatively small and made it difficult to get new planes and parts.

Few Americans have really flown it. Iraqi Airways has never operated business flights to the US, mostly because of constricted demand to the Middle East and concerns concerning Iraq's aviation safety oversight. The transporter has been banned outright from flying in the EU since 2015 complete safety concerns.

The transporter motionless exists, though, and it's quietly rebuilding. My 2 ½-hour February escape from Baghdad to Dubai was on a new Boeing 787, and I spent the entire day being incorrect concerning what I'd find.

These were the four things that amazed me most.

Iraqi Airways did not react to a petition for comment from Business Insider.

The fleet is newer than I expected

I'll acknowledge that whenever booking, I assumed I'd be placed on an old aircraft pushed way beyond its withdrawal date. That isn't what's sitting on the ramp in Baghdad now.

My airplane was one of two practically new 787-8s that arrived in 2023, alongside additional expected through 2027.

The transporter has spent the final few years replacing a lot of its fleet, which has an average age of concerning 11 years, in row alongside important Middle Eastern carriers akin Emirates and Qatar Airways. It was among the archetypal airlines in the Middle East to fly the Airbus A220, and next-generation Boeing 737 Max 8s have been arriving since 2023.

While my aircraft looked notable from the ramp, the inner confused me. With stained seats, crumbs alongside the cushions, and a dirty seatback pocket, I was amazed the division hadn't been cared for the way a 2-year-old aircraft should be.

I was additionally wary concerning safety. Iraqi Airways' lone collision was in 1986 during a hijacking, but it remains on the EU's no-fly list. Regulators identified grave safety deficiencies in its operations and company management, and the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority has unsuccessful to encounter global aviation oversight standards.

Knowing that the transporter you're concerning to fly on has a former of safety concerns is not exactly comforting.

Baghdad Airport has a pigeon problem

I flew Turkish Airlines to Baghdad International Airport from Istanbul the dawn of my Iraqi Airways flight. I got my visa online through a third gathering for concerning $200, but didn't depart the airport, so I had plentifulness of period to explore.

What I noticed most in the airport terminal wasn't the distinctive architecture or the shops. It was the birds.

Pigeons were everyplace inner the concourse, doing their finest airplane impressions. A few had equal claimed the tops of the safety cameras as their own.

My bird-loving bosom enjoyed this for approximately 10 minutes: During boarding, I watched a pigeon poop on a man's head. He took it far improved than I would have.

I got a hot meal on a 2-hour flight

Many US airlines gave up on feeding group years ago. Two hours domestically gets you a drink and a small snack; that's it for economy.

Iraqi Airways brought out a complete heated meal on a escape of the identical length. It wasn't fair a sandwich or a snack box, but a hot tray of poultry and rice, served alongside adequate period to eat before the decline started. Everything on the tray was good.

This meal assistance differs from what you'll discover on many Western airlines, which run in extremely rivalrous markets anywhere keeping expenses downward is a important priority.

Many US carriers have decided they don't need to recommendation complete meal services on short-haul flights to compete. Iraqi Airways, by contrast, is state-owned alongside authorities backing and distinct disbursal pressures.

I met multiple engaging group at the airport

Flying is a stressful cognition nearly everywhere, and airports can bring out an every-person-for-themselves intuition in most of us: Headphones in, eyes down, get through it. That's the baseline I've arrive to anticipate during traveling.

Baghdad Airport amazed me. A man at check-in started talking to me since he wanted to cognize anywhere I was from. As an American, I wasn't person he encountered all day, and before I knew it, we'd spent nearly an hr comparing our families and the customs we'd grown up with.

Later, I was trying to buy a flask of h2o at a coffee remain whenever another traveler stepped in to translate. That turned into a conversation concerning how he'd learned English at university.

The interactions weren't what I'd expected from an airfield I'd been nervous concerning navigating, as the US State Department has issued a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for Iraq. Instead, I got a glance of the group rearward the location I was visiting.

Overall, it was certainly a whirlwind trip alongside plentifulness of surprises.

The aircraft itself remaining much to be desired, and Iraq continues to visage aviation-safety challenges and important geopolitical tensions. But flying Iraqi Airways as an American — albeit one who seeks out specified different journey experiences — was fascinating.

I established a hub airport run by pigeons, a hot meal on a escape that wouldn't be offered in economics rear home, and a fleet quietly being rebuilt, equal as the transporter continues to visage regulatory challenges.