Airfield of death turned into commercial airport

Tuesday, 03 Jun, 2004 0

An airfield in Iraq that desposed dictator Saddam Hussein used to launch chemical weapons on the Kurdish people is being transformed into a £22 million commercial airport.

Back in 1988 Iraqi aircraft took off from the airfield near Sulaimaniya and dropped their deadly payload on the Halabja region of Iraqi Kurdistan, killing more than 4,000 people. It was part of the brutel repression of the minroty Kurds by Saddam.

Reuters news agency says a glass and steel terminal building is now being constructed, which the Kurds hope will be the focal point for a burgeoning tourist industry, as well as the economic mainspring for the region’s future development.

Site operations manager Tahir Qadir told the agency: “The airport will be used for tourism, trading and making relationships between Kurds and the world.”

The scheme is a joint project between local Kurdush authorities and the Turkish constructon company AGS, and will initially handle four flights a day to Istanbul or Amman from next January. 



 

profileimage

Phil Davies



Most Read

Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know

Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham

Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago

Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research

Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact

Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference

Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role

Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal

Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination

Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness

Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future

Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
TRAINING & COMPETITION
Skip to toolbar
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...