Baghdad, Apr 13 (IANS): Iraq will start receiving 40 Boeing commercial airplanes, as the first step in re-establishing its scheduled commercial aviation operations, Xinhua reported.

"The Iraqi Ministry of Transportation will begin receiving batches of the 40 American Boeing 738, 787 airplanes in December this year," state-run Iraqia channel quoted Kareem al-Nuri, an advisor to the minister for transportation as saying.

The ministry has also received six out of 10 planes that were part of an earlier contract with Canada's Bombardier company in a bid to rebuild the country's aged air fleet, al-Nuri said.

The remaining four planes will be delivered to Iraq in the coming months, he added.

In 2008, Iraq signed two deals -- one worth $5 billion to purchase 40 Boeing aircraft, and the other with the Canada's Bombardier to purchase 10 planes.

The Iraqi Airways is one of the oldest airlines in the Middle East and a member of the Arab Union for air transportation.