Arriving at Basra Airport, 2026
Basra’s beautiful bridge, stretching across the Shatt al-Arab waterway.
Basra - Iraq’s southernmost airport - can provide a good starting point, if you are planning a trip across the whole of Iraq. The airport is smaller than Baghdad’s and, although tourism remains underdeveloped in Basra, because it is Iraq’s economic and industrial heartland, there are quite a few foreigners going in and out.
Airport staff are efficient at spotting foreign nationals and, as you go with the flow of passengers into the airport terminal after landing, you may be stopped by an official and asked if you have a visa. If you do, you may have this checked and then be directed downstairs to passport control.
If you are coming in with e-visa documentation (which should be a printed out paper copy), you can just say “e-visa” and you will be directed down a different corridor to other passengers to an office where the visas are prepared. It is a new office and is nicely laid out. If there are others waiting, you just take a seat until it’s your turn and then approach the desk with your passport and e-visa document.
The official will check the documents and ask you to look into a camera for the photograph. This is taken with a new modern camera system and you need to stand fairly close and line up your eyes with the dot in the centre of a mirrored panel. It seems to take universally terrible and unflattering photos.
The official will then print out the visa sticker, stick it in your passport and hand back the passport, retaining the e-visa document. You can then go back down the same corridor and down the stairs to passport control. You will probably be pointed in the right direction as Basra Airport officials seem fairly well-organised and attentive.
At passport control, you can head to any booth, unless otherwise directed by yet another helpful official, where you get your photo taken again (on a normal little digital camera) and get stamped in.
From there, you proceed to baggage reclaim. Once you have collected any hold luggage, you need to put all your bags through a scanner (you’re unlikely to be stopped here, unless you’re carrying something unusual) and then head for the exit.
It can be a little intense when you emerge into the arrivals hall because it’s quite a compact area and there can be a lot of people waiting for passengers. Basra is Iraq’s industrial heartland with international projects and nearby oil fields so many businessmen use this airport, most of whom will have drivers waiting for them. For some reason, it is not (yet) allowed for those waiting to hold signs with passenger or company names, so you may be approached by people who think you might be their passenger, as well as by taxi drivers.
There is a little tea and snacks stand, a money exchange (note: preferable rates are available downtown for changing money) and a SIM card outlet.
Unfortunately, the “mandatory airport vehicle” system which used to be deployed at Baghdad Airport is still in operation here, although hopefully this will change in the foreseeable future. This means that, unless you are a businessman for whom other official arrangements have been made, it’s highly likely you will be forced to take an official (quite expensive - currently costing IQD 60,000) airport taxi to the city centre, either to your accommodation or wherever else you may be headed.
The drive into town from the airport can vary in time from around 20 minutes to longer during peak traffic times. The landscape is not the most beautiful, being something of an industrial wasteland but, like so much of the country now, it is work in progress and anyway, who cares? You’re in Iraq!
Note: Basra airport is currently being redeveloped so processes may be different.
