Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

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HT
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Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:54 pm

When I came across this pic, I immediately wondered who constructed this terminal ?

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Photo © Gary Chambers


Reason for this question:
The outer appearance of this terminal building very strongly resembles me of Terminals A and B at HAJ (although the jetways are slightly different). The terminals at HAJ were constructed in the early 70´s by a local company called Rueterbau (now defunct; headquarters were underneath the approach to 27L approx. 1 mile from touchdown), who also built SVO-2 in Moscow (basically the same design) prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics ...
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Billy
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:59 pm

I had flown through this airport many times before the Gulf Wars, but during the Iran/Iraq War. It was a superb terminal wiht slim lights flowing ip colums to represent palm trees. However, security was fierce.

I think that ADP. the Paris airport people designed the airport.

There used to be three Iraqi Tridents parked up, and an Iranair A300 that was a prize following either a desertion or hi-jacking from iran to Iraq. The more interesting flights used to operate into the down-town airport (military), including the Il76 and Jetstar jets in full IA colours.
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juventus
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:59 pm

I was thinking the same thing, kind of modern. I don't mean to offend anybody, but how long is it going to stay that way (standing)?
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DLKAPA
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:29 pm

Quoting Juventus (Reply 2):
I was thinking the same thing, kind of modern. I don't mean to offend anybody, but how long is it going to stay that way (standing)?

That pic is actually a few years old, I think they might have re-opened the terminal as there are a few commercial operations flying out of SDA.
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DAL767400ER
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:40 pm

Quoting DLKAPA (Reply 3):
That pic is actually a few years old, I think they might have re-opened the terminal as there are a few commercial operations flying out of SDA.

Could very well be, however SDA also has two other terminals with 6 gates each, and SDA definitely doesn't need 18 gateways these days  Wink . Guess they are using the terminal that is in the best condition.
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Jaspike
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:11 pm

Here's a more recent photo:


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Photo © Ivan Simonov



Tom
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nycflyer
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:41 pm

The Baghdad airport is excellent. It's a shame such a beautiful airport has next to no service.

Quoting Juventus (Reply 2):
I was thinking the same thing, kind of modern. I don't mean to offend anybody, but how long is it going to stay that way (standing)?

Nothing will happen to the airport. It will be a major U.S. military base until there is no more need for military bases in Iraq. SDA or BGW (whatever you want to call it - I prefer BGW), is one of the finest pieces of infrastructure left in Iraq. It has a stunning architectural design inside the passenger terminals. It is an excellent, interesting airport by any international standard.
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jsnww81
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:45 am

I checked my copy of Airports of the World by John Stroud (an excellent book published in 1978 packed with information on hundreds of airports) and found the following about Baghdad International:

The airport was opened in 1970, replacing an airfield called Baghdad West. A major development program - master-planned by Aeroports de Paris, as Billy said - got underway in the late 1970s. This included the three wedge-shaped terminal buildings and a new parallel runway (visible on the left in the aerial photo above.) The new runway was actually built closer to the city of Baghdad than the older strip.

It looks like the three terminals (which oddly enough, are almost identical to the present-day complex at Hannover) opened in 1979-1980. One wedge was for Iraqi domestic flights, one for Iraqi Airways international flights, and one for all other international flights - sort of like the setup at King Khalid airport in Riyadh.

I don't know how heavily damaged the three terminals were during the 2003 firefight at the airport, but it doesn't look too terrible. The jetways appear to be in decent condition. Hopefully Baghdad can reopen the existing terminals with just a little bit of sprucing up necessary.
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N328KF
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:52 am

Quoting Jsnww81 (Reply 7):
I don't know how heavily damaged the three terminals were during the 2003 firefight at the airport, but it doesn't look too terrible. The jetways appear to be in decent condition. Hopefully Baghdad can reopen the existing terminals with just a little bit of sprucing up necessary

As far as my memory serves me, the terminal complex itself was seized without much trouble.
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jmc1975
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Tue Aug 02, 2005 3:21 am

So how secure is the airfield and tarmac areas really? Are the jetways and existing aircraft relatively safe from pilferers and intruders?
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BA
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RE: Baghdad Airport (SDA): Who Constructed It?

Tue Aug 02, 2005 3:25 am

Quoting NYCFlyer (Reply 6):
The Baghdad airport is excellent. It's a shame such a beautiful airport has next to no service.

Iraqi Airways flies from Baghdad to Basra, Irbil, Amman, and Damascus.

This Wednesday, they will begin service to Istanbul.

They are planning to launch flights to Beirut, Cairo, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Tehran soon.

Regards
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