FINANCIAL NEWS

Ministry declares Iraqi Airways bankrupt

27 May 2010

(MENAFN) The Iraqi government announced that it will close Iraqi Airways, after declaring its bankruptcy, BBC reported.

Transportation Ministry said that the state-owned carrier would be closed following a damaging row with Kuwait over war reparations.

Kuwait Airways said that the Iraqi airline owes it nearly $1.2 billion for aircraft and plane parts taken during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Iraqi Airways has cancelled all its scheduled flights. These flights include weekly flights between Baghdad and London, and flights from Baghdad to a number of other destinations in the Middle East, including Tehran, Damascus and Cairo.

The ministry blamed Kuwait’s harassment for the airline’s failure.

In April, lawyers acting for Kuwaiti authorities tried to have an Iraqi Airlines plane confiscated while at London’s Gatwick Airport. The airline’s chief executive also had his passport confiscated and was held in London, but has since returned to Iraq.

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