Departure
91%
vs 95% ▼ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Basra International Airport (ORMM/BSR) is Iraq's principal gateway to the southern city of Basra, sitting close to the Shatt al-Arab waterway and serving as a hub for Iraqi Airways. It offers a single very long, lit hard runway with ILS on both approaches, making it a straightforward and prominent VFR/IFR destination for simulator pilots flying in the Gulf region.
Basra International Airport lies on the outskirts of Basra in southern Iraq and functions as both a military and public airport, acting as a hub for Iraqi Airways and handling a growing list of international carriers. For a simulator pilot it is notable for its single enormous runway, full ILS coverage, and a history that spans Imperial Airways flying-boat operations, Iraqi state construction projects, and a long period of British and American military use.
The airport is situated near Basra on the right bank area associated with the Shatt al-Arab river in Muhafazat al Basrah, southern Iraq. The present-day airport replaced an older site about six miles to the east, which itself sat on the river to allow seaplane operations. No further detail on surrounding controlled airspace classification or adjacent aerodromes is available from the sources consulted.
Basra International Airport has a single physical runway, 14/32, 13,103 feet long with a hard surface. It is lit and equipped with ILS for approaches in both directions, giving it exceptional length and precision-approach capability for an airfield of its type.
Published frequencies for Basra International are Approach (APP) on 119.4 MHz, Ground (GND) on 125.9 MHz, Operations (OPS) on 132.7 MHz, and Tower (TWR) on 118.7 MHz. The field is equipped with ILS serving both ends of the runway.
The Shatt al-Arab river, close to which the original Basra airport was built to accommodate seaplanes, remains a useful geographic reference for the wider area, though the current airport itself lies some distance from the old riverside site.
The original Basra airport was built roughly six miles east of the current site on the bank of the Shatt al-Arab so that seaplanes could be accommodated, and in 1937-38 an Imperial Airways terminal with an unusual palace-like appearance was constructed there by British architects James Mollison Wilson and Harold Mason. The present airport was built in the 1980s by the Iraqi State Organisation for Roads and Bridges as a gateway linked to Iraq's only port, reportedly intended mainly for VIP use. Planned renovation under a German contract, including a new terminal, was halted by the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War, and substantial redevelopment did not resume until after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when the United States Agency for International Development funded refurbishment of air traffic control towers and other facilities. The airport reopened in June 2004 with the arrival of an Iraqi Airways Boeing 727 from Baghdad, marking the start of a new domestic service, although early operations were hampered by basic facility shortcomings. From 2003 to 2009 the Royal Air Force maintained a significant presence at Basra as No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing, operating a wide mix of fixed-wing and rotary types including Nimrod MR.2 maritime patrol aircraft, C-130J Hercules, BAe 125s, Chinook, Sea King, Lynx, Gazelle, Puma and Merlin helicopters, before redeploying to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in mid-2009. The United States Army also deployed AH-64 Apache helicopters to the airport at times, and the Danish Air Force operated Eurocopter Squirrel helicopters from the field.
Basra International Airport now serves as a hub for Iraqi Airways and hosts a range of international carriers including Emirates, flydubai, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Pegasus Airlines, AJet, Fly Baghdad and Nile Air, connecting Basra with destinations across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Ground handling and fuel supply have been managed successively by SkyLink Arabia, Basra Ground Handling Services in partnership with Iraqi Airways, and more recently by a Lebanese-partnered ground handling and cargo operator working with Iraq's Directorate of Airports.