MOSUL, Iraq

After a 10-year hiatus, Iraq’s Mosul International Airport is expected to resume flights next year following the defeat of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group.

The Mosul airport was captured by Daesh/ISIS terrorists in June 2014 and was used as a military base during the terror group’s reign.

But in 2017, the Iraqi forces regained the city and the airport from Daesh/ISIS and declared victory over the terrorist organization.

Following the Daesh/ISIS fall, the Mosul airport was rebuilt by two major Turkish companies – TAV Insaat and 77 Insaat.

Mehmet Sinan Turkan, the airport project manager at 77 Insaat, said the company successfully assumed control of the Mosul airport project in September 2022.

“We initially focused on removing debris and clearing the site of the collapsed airport,” he told Anadolu.

Turkan said that the repair of the airport runway began last December.

“In March, three C-130 aircraft successfully landed at the Mosul airport,” he added.

Turkan noted that the construction of various sections at the Mosul airport as service facilities, control towers and outer walls is still underway.

“The reconstruction of the airport will be completed by the end of 2024 and it will be reopened to civilian flights,” he added.

Turkish Consul General in Mosul, Mehmet Kucuksakalli, said around four million Iraqi residents of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the provincial capital, had to travel from Mosul to Erbil or Baghdad for domestic or international destinations.

“The two Turkish companies and Turkish engineers and workers are exerting strenuous efforts to finish the airport reconstruction at the earliest possible time,” he added.

“The Iraqi authorities have provided the necessary facilities to our companies,” the consul general added. “I believe that the project will be completed on schedule.”

The Turkish diplomat voiced hope that the first flight from the Mosul airport will head to Türkiye.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi