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Ahead of its planned operational launch in March, newly certified Iraqi carrier Basra Airlines spoke exclusively with Aviation Week about the steps it is taking to ensure its maintenance and technical infrastructure is fully operational.
The carrier recently took delivery of two Bombardier CRJ-1000 regional jets and secured its air operator certificate from the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) in December 2025. With its service entry approaching, Basra Airlines’ technical strategy prioritizes outsourced support in the initial phase, paired with a road map to secure internal line maintenance approval.
Upon service entry, line maintenance support for the CRJ-1000 fleet will be provided under an agreement with Iraqi Airways. The arrangement gives Basra immediate access to established infrastructure at Baghdad International Airport, avoiding the upfront investment required to launch with its own approval.
Base maintenance will be performed by Adria Tehnika, a European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Part 145 approved MRO in Slovenia. The airline says it is also engaging additional EASA-approved MRO providers in Europe to ensure flexibility and redundancy for heavy checks.
For a two-aircraft fleet, maintenance slot availability and turnaround time become critical constraints. Securing access to multiple approved providers mitigates the risk of delays that could disproportionately affect network reliability.
Basra Airlines confirms it is in discussions with established asset management and support providers regarding power-by-the-hour and time-and-material agreements, primarily focused on component pooling during the initial operating phase.
Although the carrier did not disclose specific engine arrangements, the CRJ-1000’s GE Aerospace CF34 engines benefit from an established global support ecosystem, which should ease service entry planning.
To ensure reliable spare parts access in Iraq, Basra Airlines will draw on Iraqi Airways’ existing component support agreement, build an initial stock of essential materials and critical rotables at Baghdad International Airport, and supplement this with component pool arrangements that guarantee defined availability and dispatch performance levels to maintain aircraft readiness.
Basra is training its engineering staff in accordance with ICAA, International Civil Aviation Organization and applicable EASA standards through EASA Part 147 training organizations and ICAA-accepted providers. Internal procedural training aligns with the airline’s approved maintenance management system.
While outsourcing supports the launch phase, Basra Airlines says it plans to secure its own line maintenance approval under ICAA oversight. The carrier says preparatory work is underway, including the acquisition of tools and equipment, facility preparation and development of a maintenance procedures manual.
The phased approach reflects a practical startup model: tap into established domestic and European maintenance capability to limit early capital commitments, then bring functions in-house as the fleet grows and utilization increases. For Basra Airlines, though, the real measure of this setup will be its ability to deliver strong dispatch reliability when its CRJ 1000 services begin operations in March.
The fleet will begin by operating domestic services from Baghdad, supported by regional operations to key destinations such as Amman, Joran; Beirut; and Dubai.
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