Kish Air
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Founded | 1989 | ||||||
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Hubs | |||||||
Secondary hubs | Mashhad International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | |||||||
Fleet size | 12 | ||||||
Destinations | 18 | ||||||
Parent company | Kish Free Zone Organization | ||||||
Headquarters | Kish Island, Persian Gulf, Iran | ||||||
Key people | Capt. Kalhori (Chairman) | ||||||
Website | kishairlines.com |
Kish Airlines (Persian: هواپیمایی کیش) is an airline operating from Kish Island, Iran.[1] It operates international, domestic and charter services as a scheduled carrier. Its main base is Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran.[2]
History
The airline was established on December 16, 1989 and started operations in 1989. It is owned by Kish Free Zone Organisation (79%), Kish Investment and Development (11%) and Kish Development and Servicing (10%).
To start its passenger operations, after receiving temporary operations permission, the airline leased 2 aircraft (three Tupolev Tu-154 and four McDonnell Douglas MD-82/MD-83) from Bulgaria Airlines on a wet lease basis. Kish Air received its air operator certificate (AOC) in 1990 after demonstrating its competence to the Civil Aviation authorities, during its first year of operations, thus becoming the first private company to receive its AOC from Civil Aviation of Iran. At this time the company began wet leasing three Tupolev Tu-154Ms from Russian leasing companies, returning the previously leased Bulgarian aircraft. The company also wet leased two Yakovlev Yak-42D aircraft from Russia.
Towards the end of 1992 the company was at the verge of bankruptcy, and most of the key managers were replaced by a new team, most of whom are still running the company successfully today. In 1999 Kish Air having enough financial strength, decided to replace its wet leased fleet with dry leased and purchased aircraft, and within a year was able to operate 2 dry leased and two purchased Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, and hire and train the required air crew and maintenance personnel. At present Kish Air is also operating a fleet of medium range MD-80 series aircraft and short range Fokker 100 on its domestic and international routes.
On February the 2nd 2016, Kish Air confirmed as the second Iranian airline in less than one month that a deal with Airbus is confirmed. Kish Air has reportedly ordered two A321s with delivery in June 2016. Two other A321s are going to be signed by the CEO of Kish Air within the next coming weeks. In total Kish Air has planned to buy 10 number of A321s and A320s until the end of the year. This will according to Kish Free Zone Organization (KFZO) generate more new routes to the Kish Island Resort. In March 2016 Kish Air received its first second–hand A320 with thee second plane arriving on 21 March.[3]
Destinations
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Tupolev-154M_Kish_Air_EP-LBR_THR_January_2011.jpg/220px-Tupolev-154M_Kish_Air_EP-LBR_THR_January_2011.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Kish_Air_Tupolev_Tu-154_Geertsen.jpg/220px-Kish_Air_Tupolev_Tu-154_Geertsen.jpg)
Kish Air operates services to the following destinations (at January 2011):[4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/Kish_Air_Airbus_A320_in_Mehrabad_Airport_01.jpg/220px-Kish_Air_Airbus_A320_in_Mehrabad_Airport_01.jpg)
- Abadan - Abadan Airport
- Abu Musa Island - Abu Musa Airport
- Ahwaz - Ahwaz International Airport
- Asalouyeh - Asalouyeh Airport
- Bandar Abbas - Bandar Abbas Airport
- Isfahan - Isfahan International Airport
- Kerman - Kerman Airport
- Kermanshah - Kermanshah Airport
- Kish Island - Kish Airport (Headquarters)
- Mahshahr - Mahshahr Airport
- Mashhad - Mashhad International Airport
- Rasht - Rasht Airport
- Qeshm - Qeshm Airport
- Shahrekord - Shahrekord Airport
- Shahroud - Shahroud Airport
- Shiraz - Shiraz International Airport
- Tabriz - Tabriz International Airport
- Tehran - Mehrabad Airport (Hub)
- Zanjan - Zanjan Airport
Fleet
The Kish Air fleet includes the following aircraft (March 2016):[5]
Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fokker 100 | 3 | — | 117 | |
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 4 | — | 161 | |
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 3 | — | 156 | |
Airbus A320–200 | 2[6] | 156 | ||
Total | 12 |
The airline is talking to Airbus and Embraer about possible purchases of new aircraft
Accidents and incidents
- On 19 September 1995, Kish Air Flight 707 was hijacked by one of the cabin crew and landed in Israel, where the hijacker was arrested.
- On 10 February 2004, Kish Air Flight 7170, operated by a Fokker 50 Mk.050, crashed at Sharjah International Airport killing 43 people. Three survived with serious injuries. The cause was that the propellors were put into reverse pitch while the aircraft was in flight.[7]
References
- ^ "Directory: World airlines." Flight International. 23–29 March 2004. 94.
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 101.
- ^ http://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/38509/airbus-delivered-kish-air
- ^ Kish Air Destinations
- ^ Kish Air Fleet Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ http://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/38509/airbus-delivered-kish-air
- ^ "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT 01/04" (PDF). General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)