Mosul airport reopens with first passenger flight since ISIS rule

Mosul's airport has reopened to passengers with the first flight to Baghdad since the city was relieved of ISIS rule.

The Iraqi Airways flight marked the return of domestic air traffic to Mosul after the airport was rebuilt. Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani had held a formal reopening ceremony in July, after a first trial flight in June.

It is the latest milestone in Mosul's recovery from the destruction left behind by ISIS, which overran the city in 2014. Landmarks including Al Nuri Mosque and its leaning minaret were restored in a UAE-backed project completed in September.

Passengers wait to board the Iraqi Airways flight to Baghdad. AFP

A check-in counter at the rebuilt airport. AFP

Iraqi officials hope international flights from Mosul could soon follow. “The airport is fully prepared and complete in all technical and logistical aspects,” the airport authority chief Hussein Al Zubaidi said.

“Co-ordination is under way with Iraqi Airways to operate domestic flights according to the company's schedules, in preparation for launching international flights in the near future,” he said, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014, declaring a caliphate from the Mosul mosque that spanned areas of both countries. Three years later, Iraqi forces, backed by a US-led international coalition, reclaimed all ISIS-held territory across the country after gruelling fighting that left thousands dead and large areas in ruin, mainly in Mosul.

Iraqi police vehicles on the runway of Mosul airport in 2017. Florian Neuhof / The National

How the tarmac looked on Thursday as passengers boarded the plane. AFP

The airport was badly damaged. Reconstruction began in 2022, and about 630,000 passengers are expected to use the reconstructed terminal per year.

Twelve firms have submitted proposals to run the airport's operations, Nineveh province governor Abdul Qader Al Dakhil said in August. The National reported that the bidders include Emirati, Turkish, British, and Omani companies. Ground handling, cargo and refuelling are being provided by Masil, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation and Iraqi Airways.

Last month Iraq awarded a contract for a $764 million development of Baghdad's international airport. There are plans to build a new terminal and upgrade runways.

Other airports in the country include Najaf Airport, which primarily serves pilgrims for Shiite shrines, Basra Airport, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and Kirkuk Airport, which was opened in 2022. Two more are under construction outside the cities of Karbala and Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Mosul airport reopens with first passenger flight since ISIS rule

Iraqi Airways flight to Baghdad marks return of domestic traffic

The specs

The specs