Iraqi Airways (IA, Baghdad) is planning to renew its widebody fleet and is considering either B777s or A330neo for this purpose, Assistant Director General (Commercial Affairs) Sana Al-Khayyat said.

Al-Khayyat told Arabian Aerospace in late 2018 that the carrier was planning to retire all its Boeing widebodies in 2019, subject to government approval of the plan.

According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the Iraqi carrier's widebody fleet currently includes two B747-400s, one B777-200LR, and one A330-200. The airline recently decided that it will retire its two B767-300(ER)s due to the excessive cost it would take to return the units to active service.

The Iraqi carrier is looking at expanding its network to the United States and Bangladesh.

Iraqi Airways is also hoping to be removed from the EU blacklist and secure EASA Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation within the first half of 2019, which would allow it to operate to the European Union. Currently, all Iraqi Airways flights to Europe are operated under its code and with its aircraft but using the Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) of AtlasGlobal (Istanbul Airport).