The old airport was situated about 6 miles to the east from the current one, on the right bank of Shatt Al-Arab (so it can accommodate the seaplanes).

[3] The airport was built in the 1980s and then developed in the 1980s by the Iraqi Government department State Organisation for Roads and Bridges (SORB) as a gateway to the only port in Iraq.

Renovation of the airport was supposed to proceed with the construction of a new terminal under German contract but the project prematurely ceased with the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War.

The event was marked by the traditional sheep sacrifice[citation needed] as an Iraqi Airways Boeing 727 jet landed from Baghdad.

PTS became the first International company to have a desk inside the main Airport terminal, from where the locally employed staff were able to provide both English and Iraqi speaking services.

[17] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency