Mosul airport still grounded by red tape, MPs say

Shafaq News- Baghdad

A bloc of Nineveh province lawmakers identified three separate entities responsible for blocking Mosul International Airport's full operational launch, nearly a year after a formal inauguration ceremony and repeated government pledges to open the facility.

At a joint press conference in the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, MP Abd al-Rahim al-Shammari, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, said local officials had issued repeated assurances about the airport's opening that amounted to “nothing more than performances and empty pledges.”

The Civil Aviation Authority, al-Shammari said, bears primary institutional responsibility, accused of deliberate indifference toward the Mosul facility and intentional foot-dragging on its licensing obligations.

Failures on two other fronts compound the obstruction: the Nineveh provincial government and the contracted construction firm, which has cited an inability to complete the licensing project as justification for its continued delays.

All three parties, he said, will be held accountable through the bloc's parliamentary oversight powers.

Background

ISIS seized Mosul in June 2014 and destroyed the airport's main passenger terminal, control tower, and fire stations. Trenches were dug across the runways and debris scattered to deny Iraqi forces use of the site; clearance of explosive devices and landmines took approximately 18 months, concluding in 2019. Iraqi forces drove ISIS from the city in July 2017 after a months-long urban battle that left large parts of Mosul in ruins.

Reconstruction began in August 2022 under then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani formally inaugurated the facility on July 16, 2025, with a runway extended to 3,000 meters to accommodate large commercial aircraft and a stated annual capacity of 630,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of cargo.

Domestic flights commenced on November 6, 2025. The airport's first international flight since reopening departed January 26, 2026, carrying 157 Umrah pilgrims from Nineveh to Medina.

The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed as recently as January 28, 2026, that qualification and operational procedures remain incomplete, citing multiple technical and legal requirements that must be satisfied before a full operating license can be granted, the administrative bottleneck now at the center of the parliamentary dispute.