Fly Baghdad (IF, Baghdad) has suspended all flight operations at the orders of the Iraqi government following an investigation into the airline's alleged ties to Iranian militia. The carrier confirmed its bank accounts have been frozen due to recently imposed US sanctions and can therefore not refund passengers.
"Fly Baghdad fully complies with the decision issued by His Excellency the Prime Minister to stop all flights starting from this moment and until further notice, until the investigation is completed. We also welcome this investigation as an opportunity to prove the incorrectness of the US Treasury Department's claims against Fly Baghdad and its CEO, Mr. Basherr Al-Shabbani. At present time, we cannot access our bank accounts, so it is not possible for Fly Baghdad to refund cancelled tickets or book tickets for passengers on other airlines," it said.
ADS-B data shows the last flight Fly Baghdad operated was a ferry flight from Baghdad to Antalya, during the night of January 25/26 with B737-900ER YI-BAT (msn 35711). Scheduled flights were suspended by the evening of January 25, 2024.
The airline confirmed to local media that it has appealed the US government's sanctions and hopes to have them overturned within the two-month wind-down period before all transactions are fully banned.
Fly Baghdad, which is the only active Iraqi airline currently sanctioned by the US, was proscribed for its alleged ties with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-Quds), including its participation in ferrying fighters, weapons, and cash to Iranian proxies in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. The CEO and owner, Basheer Al-Shabbani, was also specially designated.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Fly Baghdad operates one B737-700 (parked at Baghdad), five B737-800s (four parked at Baghdad and one at Najaf), three B737-900ERs (one each parked at Antalya, Baghdad, and Erbil), one CRJ200 (parked at Baghdad), and one CRJ900 (ferried to Calgary in late December 2023).
