Editing Iraqi Airways (section)

===Early history===
Iraqi Airways was founded in 1945 as a department of the [[Iraqi State Railways]] and started operating on 28 January 1946 using five [[De Havilland Dragon Rapide]]s on a service to [[Syria]]. With the help of the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC), the new airline ordered three [[Vickers VC.1 Viking|Vickers Viking]] aircraft. While waiting for the Vikings to be delivered, it leased four [[Douglas DC-3]] aircraft from BOAC in December 1946. In 1947, the airline ordered the [[de Havilland Dove]] to replace the Dragon Rapides; the Doves were delivered in October 1947. The three new Vikings were delivered at the end of 1947 and the DC-3s returned to BOAC. A fourth Viking was bought [[second-hand]].

In 1953, the four-engined [[Vickers Viscount]] turboprop was chosen to replace the Vikings and an order for three was placed in July. The Viscounts entered service in 1955 and operated all of Iraqi Airways' international services, including a new route to [[London Heathrow Airport|London]] with intermediate stops. On 1 April 1960, the airline was split from the railway company. In 1961, it placed an order for two [[Boeing 720B]]s for delivery in 1964, but the order was later cancelled.

In the 1960s, Iraqi Airways bought [[Russia]]n [[Tupolev Tu-124]] planes as well as [[Hawker Siddeley Trident]] aircraft. These jets allowed the airline to increase services across the [[Middle East]], to [[Africa]] and [[Europe]]. At the time, cargo [[aircraft]] such as the [[Ilyushin Il-76]] were also purchased. During the 1970s, Iraqi Airways needed a bigger jet for a new route to [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] in [[New York City|New York]]; it purchased the [[Boeing 707]] and, soon after, the [[Boeing 747]]. [[Airfare]]s were kept artificially low through state [[Subsidy|subsidies]] under the Iraqi [[Ba'athist Iraq|Ba'athist government]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandrasekaran|first=Rajiv|url=http://archive.org/details/imperiallifeinem00chan|title=Imperial life in the emerald city : inside Iraq's green zone|date=2007|publisher=Vintage Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-307-27883-8|location=New York}}</ref>