Pamir Airways was a privately owned airline headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan,[1] operating scheduled passenger flights out of Kabul International Airport. The company name is derived from the Pamir Mountains and translates "roof of the world".
History [edit]
As the first private airline[citation needed] in the history of the country, Pamir Airways was issued an Air Operator's Certificate in 1994[1] by the authorities then in charge of civil aviation in the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Flight operations were launched in 1995 with an initial fleet of one Boeing 707-300 and two Antonov An-12 aircraft.[citation needed]
In April 2008, Pamir Airways was taken over by a group of Afghan businessmen under the leadership of Sherkhan Farnood, the president of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries and former chairman of Kabul Bank, who subsequently became chairman of the airline. Following the investment, Pamir Airways received a loan for $98 million from Kabul Bank, which was later exposed as one having indescribly poor lending standards (e.g. little to no interest required, no collateral required and repayment essentially optional)[2] An effort was made to re-organize the Pamir assets, including its aging fleet of grounded planes, which could not be sold at high enough prices to reclaim the funds, though.[2] As a consequence, the license of the airline was withdrawn, officially due to the poor safety record on 19 March 2011.[3][4]
Destinations [edit]
Upon closure, Pamir Airways operated scheduled services to the following destinations:[5]
- Afghanistan
- India
- Saudi Arabia
- Tajikistan
- United Arab Emirates
During the Hajj season, Pamir Airways played a major role in taking Afghan pilgrims to Saudi Arabia (9,000 in 2004 and 15,000 in 2005).[citation needed]
Over the years, Pamir Airways operated the following aircraft types:[6]
Incidents and accidents [edit]
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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