Shafaq News-Baghdad
A bloc ofNineveh province lawmakers identified three separate entities responsible forblocking Mosul International Airport's full operational launch, nearly a yearafter a formal inauguration ceremony and repeated government pledges to openthe facility.
At a jointpress conference in the Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad, MP Abd al-Rahimal-Shammari, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee,said local officials had issued repeated assurances about the airport's openingthat amounted to “nothing more than performances and empty pledges.”
The CivilAviation Authority, al-Shammari said, bears primary institutionalresponsibility, accused of deliberate indifference toward the Mosul facilityand intentional foot-dragging on its licensing obligations.
Failures on twoother fronts compound the obstruction: the Nineveh provincial government andthe contracted construction firm, which has cited an inability to complete thelicensing project as justification for its continued delays.
All threeparties, he said, will be held accountable through the bloc's parliamentaryoversight powers.
Background
ISIS seizedMosul in June 2014 and destroyed the airport's main passenger terminal, controltower, and fire stations. Trenches were dug across the runways and debrisscattered to deny Iraqi forces use of the site; clearance of explosive devicesand landmines took approximately 18 months, concluding in 2019. Iraqi forcesdrove ISIS from the city in July 2017 after a months-long urban battle thatleft large parts of Mosul in ruins.
Reconstructionbegan in August 2022 under then-Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. PrimeMinister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani formally inaugurated the facility on July 16,2025, with a runway extended to 3,000 meters to accommodate large commercialaircraft and a stated annual capacity of 630,000 passengers and 30,000 tons ofcargo.
Domesticflights commenced on November 6, 2025. The airport's first international flightsince reopening departed January 26, 2026, carrying 157 Umrah pilgrims fromNineveh to Medina.
The CivilAviation Authority confirmed as recently as January 28, 2026, thatqualification and operational procedures remain incomplete, citing multipletechnical and legal requirements that must be satisfied before a full operatinglicense can be granted, the administrative bottleneck now at the center of theparliamentary dispute.
