Fly Baghdad clears U.S. sanctions and plans to resume Baghdad-Istanbul service

Fly Baghdad announced that the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control removed it from the Specially Designated Nationals list on Aug. 5, ending a two-year sanctions period. CEO Alaulddin Abdalrahman said the airline will resume the Baghdad-Istanbul route this month with one Boeing 737, marking the first commercial flight since a February 2026 suspension caused by regional instability. The airline, owned by businessman Ahmad Asad, has a modest fleet of three 737s and a CRJ 200, and is completing maintenance work in Baghdad and Istanbul now that U.S. restrictions are gone.

Legal counsel Eric Blinderman noted that former CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan, who was sanctioned for alleged links to the IRGC-Qods Force, was removed in 2024 and has no current involvement. Fly Baghdad hopes to expand to Erbil and to compete with carriers such as Emirates, Qatar and Turkish, while restoring relationships with banks, insurers and lessors.