Fly Baghdad

Is Fly Baghdad safe?

Fly Baghdad has not had an accident, but there is little else to recommend it on safety grounds. The EU has banned it since November 2023 over concerns raised by EASA. The airline spent two and a half years under US sanctions that grounded most of its jets. It is now restarting from a fleet of five aircraft, two of them in service. We score it 60, a little below Iraqi Airways at 63. Iraq's national airline has a longer record and newer aircraft. Neither airline is on IATA's IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary registry.

Why the EU banned Fly Baghdad

Foreign airlines need an EASA third-country operator authorisation to fly to the EU. EASA refused Fly Baghdad's because of safety concerns it found, and on 30 November 2023 the Commission put the airline on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. The Commission did not publish the details. Fly Baghdad was still in Annex A, the full ban, on the list of 9 June 2026. To keep selling flights to Europe, Fly Baghdad hired the Romanian airline Dan Air from December 2023 to fly its Baghdad and Erbil routes to Berlin, Düsseldorf and Copenhagen with Dan Air's own jet, crew and EU certificate.

Fly Baghdad is an IATA member, under the codes IF and FBA, and IATA normally requires its members to pass an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit every two years. But when we searched IATA's IOSA registry on 28 October 2026, under Baghdad, Fly Baghdad, FBA and Iraq, it was not listed. After two years of minimal flying, it has no current outside audit of its operations that we can see. That does not move the oversight score: we score any airline on the EU Air Safety List outside Russia at 25, banned by name or with its whole country, with or without IOSA, the same as Air Tanzania. The ban is a regulator's finding about this airline, and it weighs more than any audit.

Two years under US sanctions

On 22 January 2024 the US Treasury designated Fly Baghdad and its then chief executive, Basheer al-Shabbani. It said the airline had carried fighters, weapons and money for Iran's Quds Force and allied militias in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The airline denied the claims. Within days Iraq's prime minister ordered flights to stop while the government investigated. According to ch-aviation, the last flight was a ferry flight to Antalya on the night of 25 January, and the aircraft were left parked at Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Antalya.

US blocking sanctions cut an airline off from much more than US banks. Lessors, insurers, parts suppliers and maintenance shops all risk penalties for dealing with a designated company. That is why we treat the sanctions as a fleet and maintenance issue. By 2025 Fly Baghdad was down to one route, Baghdad to Istanbul. On 5 August 2026 the Treasury removed it from the sanctions list. The airline said this followed a two-year overhaul of its compliance and that it could again work with banks, insurers, lessors and maintenance providers.

What the airline flies now

The restart is small. Aviation Week, using CAPA data, counted five aircraft in August 2026: a 737-700, a 737-800, a 737-900ER, a CRJ200 and a Beech 1900D turboprop. Only the 737-800 and 737-900ER were listed as in service. That month's schedule had 46 flights on three routes, 96% fewer than in August 2023, when it flew more than 1,200. New routes to Karachi and Lahore followed in the summer. All of its jets are older types, and aircraft that have stood for two years need careful checks before they fly again.

Flying from Baghdad

Fly Baghdad's base is Baghdad International Airport, and in 2026 its airspace is among the riskiest in the region. EASA's bulletin CZIB-2026-05-R2 tells European airlines not to fly anywhere in Iraqi airspace, at any altitude, because of Iranian drones and missiles, air defence activity and armed groups. Militia rockets have hit Baghdad airport before. Iraqi airlines keep flying through it, and Iraq closes its airspace when attacks come, but EASA warns that these closures cannot be relied on to come in time.

Before you book

Choose a fare you can change or refund. Iraqi airspace closed at short notice during the 2026 war, and Fly Baghdad's network is still being rebuilt. The airline told passengers in 2024 that it could not pay refunds because its accounts were frozen. That is a reason to pay by card, which gives you a route to a chargeback if a flight is cancelled. For trips out of Baghdad, also compare foreign airlines with an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit and no EU ban, such as Royal Jordanian via Amman.

How we scored it

The accident record (86) is the strongest factor: no accident on record, though the record is short. Incidents (60) reflect one public flaps failure and a thin reporting system. The fleet (48) is small and old, and it sat parked under sanctions. The environment (40) follows EASA's advice to avoid Iraqi airspace, and oversight (25) is the weakest factor: the EU ban sets it, and the airline is not on the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary registry either, so it scores the same as any other EU-listed airline outside Russia. Overall 60.