Reopened Mosul Airport expects commercial flights by mid-September

Al-Sudani said the airport will begin accepting commercial flights “within two months” for the first time since 2014.

OSM has not been operational since the Islamic State group overran Mosul in northern Iraq in June 2014. Subsequent fighting to liberate Mosul caused heavy damage to the airport, which has been in the process of being rebuilt over the last several years.

Al-Sudani was onboard an aircraft that landed at OSM on July 16, after which a ceremony was held to reopen the airport. Iraqi Airways is expected to be the first airline to operate from OSM, which the prime minister said would be “fully operational” by mid-September.

In a statement published by the official state news service Iraqi News Agency, al-Sudani said OSM is a “vital gateway that increases integration in air transport between Iraqi airports and those in the region and around the world.”

The airport will have the capacity to handle 630,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of cargo annually, according to the Iraqi government. Its main runway extends 3,000 m (9,840 ft.).

According to Iraqi Airways, the carrier currently serves seven domestic cities: Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Kirkuk, Najaf, Nasiriyah and Sulaymaniyah. It also operates to 14 international airports in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The carrier flies to 45 destinations from its Baghdad hub.