Mahan Air
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Founded | 1993 in Kerman, Iran | ||||||
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Hubs | Imam Khomeini International Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 23 (+3 orders) | ||||||
Destinations | 28 | ||||||
Parent company | Mol-Al-Movahedin Credit Union | ||||||
Headquarters | Tehran, Iran | ||||||
Key people | Hamid Arabnejad |
Mahan Air (Persian: هواپیمایی ماهان) is a private airline based in Tehran, Iran. It operates scheduled domestic services and international flights to the Far East, Middle East, and Europe. Its main base is Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran.
History
The airline was established in 1991 and began operations in 1992 as Iran's first private airline. It joined the IATA in 2001 and is owned by Mol-Al-Movahedin Organisation (96%). It has 1,616 employees (as of March 2007). At its operational launch in May 1993, Mahan Air had a fleet comprising two Tupolev 154 aircraft, a staff of 99 and a route network from Tehran to 2 domestic destinations. Real Mahan Air growth was initiated with the addition of Airbus A300 wide-body aircraft to the fleet in 1999 and the Airbus A310 in 2001.[1] This enabled the airline to reach beyond regional destinations it served at that time. Currently, its route network spans 28 destinations in 12 countries and it has a fleet of 11 all Airbus aircraft. It currently hold 13% of all international flights from Iran[2], and 8% of the domestic market[1].
Destinations
Mahan Air serve the following destinations at June 2009 [1]:
- India
- Amritsar - Raja Sansi International Airport [starts 3 July] [3]
- Delhi - Indira Gandhi Airport
- Sri Lanka
- Iran
- Ahvaz - Ahvaz Airport
- Asalouyeh - Asalouyeh Airport
- Bandar Abbas - Bandar Abbas International Airport
- Iranshahr - Iranshahr Airport
- Kerman - Kerman Airport
- Kish Island - Kish Airport
- Mashhad - Mashhad International Airport
- Qeshm - Qeshm Airport
- Shiraz - Shiraz International Airport
- Sirjan - Sirjan Airport
- Tehran
- Imam Khomeini International Airport - (International flights) Hub
- Mehrabad Airport - (Domestic and Hajj flights) Hub
- Zabol - Zabol Airport
- Zahedan - Zahedan Airport
- Iraq
- United Arab Emirates
- Germany
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- Birmingham - Birmingham International Airport [starts 3 July]
New destinations
After the addition of service to Baghdad from October 2008 and Düsseldorf, which was resumed from December 2008, Mahan air is considered Iran's fastest growing airline and will add even more destinations by the end of 2009. Flights to Amritsar start and Birmingham resume effective from 3rd July 2009.
Mahan Air also launched Denpasar in February 2009, which has since been suspended.
Terminated destinations
Mahan Air previoulsy operated scheduled to Almaty, Bahrain, Dammam, Damascus, Denpasar, Jeddah, Kabul, Kochi, Lahore, Manchester, Sanaa, Sharjah and Tunis. Some of these destinations are now served as charter.
Fleet
Due to the sanctions imposed by the US government, Iranian airliners can only acquire airplanes which are at least seven years old and have been purchased through a third party rather than directly from Boeing or Airbus.The Mahan Air fleet includes the following aircraft (as of January 2009):
Type | Total | Average Age | Registration | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Airbus A300-B2K | 3 | 27 | EP-MHA, EP-MHP, EP-MHM | |
Airbus A300-B4 | 3 | 27 | EP-MHF, EP-MHG, EP-MHL | |
Airbus A300-600 | 2 | ? | D-AIAN, D-AIAR | stored at Kiev |
Airbus A300-600R | 1 | ? | D-AIAY | stored at Frankfurt |
Airbus A310-300 | 6 | 16.4 | F-OJHH, F-OJHI, EP-MHO, EX-301, OK-WAB, EX-35004 | 3 operated by Kyrgyz Trans Avia |
BAe 146-300 | 1 | 16 | EX-27000 | |
Boeing 747-300 | 2 | 21 | EP-MND, EP-MNE | operated by Palm Aviation |
Boeing 747-400 | 3 | 18 | EP-MNA, EP-MNB, EP-MNC | |
MD-82 | 1 | 27 | TC-TUA | operated by Best Air |
Total | 23 | 20.375 years |
Safety concerns in 2007
- On 11 September 2007, the European Commission added Mahan Air to the list of airlines banned within the EU. [5] The ban was subject to certain limitations; for example, Mahan Air was able to operate aircraft wet-leased from other carriers provided those aircraft met EU regulations, however this ban was lifted on 25 July 2008 in view of the significant efforts and progress accomplished by this carrier, which were verified during an on site inspection in Iran. [6]
References
- ^ a b Arabian Business
- ^ Arabian Business
- ^ http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/2009/06/mahan-air-to-start-amritsar-and.html
- ^ Lists Baghdad flights from Tehran
- ^ EC Press release about the ban of the airline from European airports
- ^ EU takes Iran's Mahan Airlines off blacklist citing "significant" effort to boost safety
External links
- Template:En icon Template:Fa icon Mahan Air official website
- For Mahan Air fleet search here: