Iraq opens Kirkuk Airport for civil aviation in August

By Afra Aksoy

BAGHDAD (AA) - Kirkuk Airport will open for domestic and international flights in August, , an Iraqi official announced on Monday.

Rakan al-Jubouri, the governor of Kirkuk, told reporters that experts from the Ministry of Transportation would arrive in Kirkuk shortly to confirm the date of the first landing.

“Kirkuk Airport will serve millions of people from Diyala, Saladin, and Mosul,” said al-Jubouri who revealed that the airport would be operated by a French company.

A total of six airports remain operational in cities like Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Mosul and within the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

Kirkuk Airport had been used by the U.S. Air Force as a military airbase since the 2003 U.S. invasion. It was handed over to Iraqi authorities in November 2011.