Aeroports de Paris to start work on Iraq Airport contract

French state-owned airport operator, Aeroports de Paris has won a contract to work on plans for a new international airport in Iraq.

Iraqi Transport Minister Amer Abdul-Jabbar said the contract, which was worth an estimated USD$42.5 million, stipulated that the airport would be built between the three provinces of Kerbala, Najaf and Hilla.

These provinces are home to some of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities and thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims have visited them since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Abdul-Jabbar said the new airport would be operational within three to five years, with an initial capacity of five million passengers per year and eventual capacity of 35 million per year.

Currently, Baghdad Airport manages around seven million passengers a year, he said.