Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sulaymaniyah International Airport lies some 14 kilometres west of the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, its single very long runway and ILS approach making it a straightforward destination for airliner-scale simulator traffic. Opened in 2005 and recently renamed Jalal Talabani International Airport in honour of the former Iraqi president, the field sits on the edge of the Sulaymaniyah plain beneath the surrounding Kurdish hills.
Sulaymaniyah International Airport (ICAO ORSU) serves the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq and is operated jointly by the federal government's Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and the Kurdistan Regional Government. It is of interest to simulator pilots for its very long single runway, full ILS equipage and its setting amid the mountainous terrain of Iraqi Kurdistan, combined with a genuinely eventful modern history including a period of international closure and a recent renaming.
The airport lies about 14 kilometres west of Sulaymaniyah city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at coordinates 35.5606N 45.3144E and an elevation of 2,464 feet. Area control in the vicinity is provided by Kirkuk ACC. The surrounding terrain is the elevated Sulaymaniyah plain, ringed by hills, which pilots should note when planning arrivals and departures, particularly in winter when fog can affect the area.
The field has a single physical runway, 13/31, oriented approximately southeast-northwest, with a hard surface and a length of around 11,473 feet - more than sufficient for wide-body operations. The runway is equipped with an instrument landing system.
An advisory service is available on 118.3 MHz (AAS), with area control provided by Kirkuk ACC on 125.3 MHz. A VOR navigation aid, identified SUL, operates on 117.00 MHz in the vicinity of the field, providing an additional reference for arriving and departing traffic alongside the runway's instrument landing system.
The airport sits on the Sulaymaniyah plain roughly 14 kilometres west of the city itself, which forms the principal visual landmark for pilots inbound from the east; the surrounding hills of the Kurdistan Region provide additional terrain references for orientation on approach.
Construction began in November 2003, shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, with the foundation stone laid that same month. The airport was officially opened on 20 July 2005 by Jalal Talabani, then president of Iraq, under the name Sulaymaniyah International Airport, and received ICAO recognition on 2 November 2005. International flights were suspended from 29 September 2017 amid the Iraqi-Kurdish conflict of that year, though the field remained open for domestic and humanitarian operations; the international ban was lifted in March 2018 by then prime minister Haider Al-Abadi. In September 2025 the airport was renamed Jalal Talabani International Airport in honour of the late Kurdish leader and former Iraqi president, following a proposal by the Jalal Talabani Foundation and approval by the Iraqi Council of Ministers; the change formally took effect on 19 March 2026 across official documentation and aeronautical charts.
The airport is operated by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority in conjunction with the Kurdistan Regional Government and handles both domestic and international traffic, including flights to destinations such as Istanbul, Dubai and Baghdad. It comprises separate departures, arrivals and VIP terminals, the last used for private and government traffic, together with a substantial cargo facility handled by dedicated cargo agents. The single runway and ILS approach support operations by wide-body aircraft, though pilots should be aware that winter fog on the Sulaymaniyah plain can affect approaches.