Iraqi PM says government seeks to lift EU ban on Iraqi airways

Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday pledged to take high-level action to lift a European Union ban on Iraqi Airways, calling it a "priority file" for his government.

Al-Sudani chaired a meeting of a committee tasked with ending the ban, reviewing the steps taken so far and the requirements for lifting it, according to a press release by his bureau.

He said that the initial target is to meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) "as soon as possible".

The EU ban on Iraqi Airways has been in place since 1991 due to "safety concerns". It was briefly lifted in 2009 but reimposed in 2015.

Al-Sudani said the parties that fail to meet the safety requirements needed to the lift the ban will face legal action, stressing that the government will "not tolerate any negligence in this matter."

Since 2015, and despite several rounds of talks, the restrictions have remained in place, forcing the airline to resort to wet-leasing to serve European destinations.

In March, Prime Minister al-Sudani openly floated the idea of establishing an associate carrier to Iraqi Airways in a bid to improve operations and lift long-running restrictions imposed by European regulators.