Mahan Air

Mahan Air
هواپیمایی ماهان

IATA ICAO Callsign W5 IRM MAHAN AIR
Founded	1991
Commenced operations	June 1992
Hubs	Tehran Mehrabad International Airport Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport
Focus cities	Shiraz Kish Island Kerman Dubai Kuala Lumpur–International Istanbul
Frequent-flyer program	Mahan and Miles
Fleet size	57
Destinations	61
Company slogan	The Spirit of Excellence
Parent company	Mol-Al-Movahedin Charity Institute
Headquarters	Aryashahr, Tehran, Iran
Key people	Hamid Arabnejad, Chairman & CEO
Website	www.mahan.aero

Mahan Airlines, operating under the name Mahan Air (Persian: هواپیمایی ماهان Havāpeymāiye Māhān‎‎) is a private airline based in Tehran, Iran.^[1][2] It operates scheduled domestic services and international flights to the Far East, Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. Its main hubs are Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport.

History

Mahan Air Tower the headquarters of Mahan Air, Tehran, Iran

Boeing 747-400

Mahan Air Airbus A300B4-600 landing at Birmingham International Airport, England (2010)

A Mahan Air Airbus A310-300, just departed from Dubai International Airport in 2009.

The airline was established in 1991 and began operations in June 1992 as Iran's first private airline. The name of Mahan is taken from Historical city of Mahan in Kerman Province. The Airline joined the IATA in 2001 and is owned by Mol-Al-Movahedin Charity Institute (100%). As of March 2007 it has 2,511 employees. At its operational launch in May 1993, Mahan Air fleet consisted of two Tupolev 154 aircraft, with a staff of 99 and a route network from Tehran to two domestic destinations. Growth was initiated with the addition of Airbus A300 wide-body aircraft to the fleet in 1999 and the Airbus A310 in 2001.^[3] This enabled the airline to reach beyond the regional destinations it served. Its route network now spans 50 destinations in 12 countries with a fleet of 38 Airbus and Boeing 747 aircraft. It holds 13% of all international flights from Iran,^[4] and 8% of the domestic market.

On 12 December 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced the designation of Mahan Air as a material and transportation supporter of terrorism "for providing financial, material and technological support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Based in Tehran, Mahan Air provides transportation, funds transfers and personnel travel services to the IRGC-QF." ^[5]

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Mahan Air three times since 2011 for allegedly shipping arms to the Syrian government; ferrying members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and providing transport for the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.^[6]

The airline carried 5.6 million passengers in 2014 with an average load factor of 77% and in mid-2015 had a fleet of 65 aircraft, making it the largest airline in Iran based on seat numbers and fleet size.^[7] On 6th April 2016 Mahan Air was banned from flying over Saudi Arabian airspace.^[8]

Corporate affairs

Mahan Air is headquartered in Tehran.^[9] Its current slogan is "The Spirit of Excellence."^[10]

Mahan Air loyalty programme, called the Mahan Club "Mahan & Miles", includes access to special lounges and dedicated "fast" queues.^[11]

Destinations

Codeshare agreements

• UM Airlines^[12]

Fleet

Due to the sanctions imposed by the US, Iranian airlines can only acquire aircraft which are at least seven years old and have been purchased through a third party rather than directly from Boeing or Airbus. Although this ban has been lifted

A former Airbus A320 of Mahan Air which was sold to Iran Air

Three 747-400s were according to the British High Court unlawfully taken by Mahan from their real owners Blue Sky Airlines in 2008 using forged bills of sale. When ordered to bring the aircraft back to Europe, Mahan apparently claimed they could not do so because they were being investigated by the Iranian authorities for fraud and the aircraft had to be kept in Iran.^[13]

Mahan Air Fleet (as of May 2015)^[14][15][16]

Type	Total	Order	Seating				Notes
			F	J	Y	Total
Airbus A300-600R	14	—	—	21	228	246[17]
Airbus A310-300	10	—	—	12	190	202[17]
Airbus A321-100	1	—	TBA				Stored
Airbus A340-300	4	—	7	48	160	215[17]
Airbus A340-600	7	2	TBA			308	Deliveries: September 2016
Avro RJ-85	2	—	—	8	104	112
Avro RJ-100	4	—	—	8	104	112
BAe 146-200	1	—	—	—	95	95[17]
BAe 146-300	9	—	—	—	95	95[17]
Total	55	2

Executive

The Mahan Air Executive fleet consists of the following aircraft as of March 2009:^[18]

Mahan Air Executive Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers
Cessna 525A Citation CJ2	1	0	9
Total	1	0	—

Fleet history

Over the years, Mahan has operated the following aircraft types:^[19][20]

Mahan Air historical fleet

Aircraft	Retired	Notes
Airbus A300B4-100	2013
Airbus A300B4-2C	2006	Stored at OIKK and it's being used for cabin crew training
Airbus A300B4-200	2006	Sold to Iraqi Government
Airbus A320-200	2008	3 sold to Iran Air[21]
Airbus A321-100	2004	Leased from Blue Wings
Boeing 747-300M	2015
Boeing 747-400	2012	Stored due to US sanctions[22][23][24]
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar	2005	Leased from SkyGate
McDonnell Douglas MD-82	2009	Leased from Best Air
McDonnell Douglas MD-83	2006	Leased from Bulgarian Air Charter
Tupolev Tu-154	2005	Sold to Caspian Airlines
Tupolev Tu-204-120	2006	Leased from Cairo Aviation

Incidents and accidents^[25]

• 7 March 2005: An Airbus A310 at Tehran-Mehrabad Airport, the crew executed an approach in manual mode with the co-pilot flying the airplane. The airplane landed normally on runway 29L at Tehran-Mehrabad Airport. After compression of the main struts of the landing gear, the spoilers were extended. At the same time the reverser on the left engine was brought to maximum mode. The reverse thrust lever of the right engine was not used since the reverser was deactivated. After deceleration to a speed of 80 knots the reverse thrust lever of the left engine was brought to the intermediate position between maximum and minimum reverse thrust. As this was happening the throttle control lever of the right engine was brought from idle to the position of ~55 degrees according to FDR data. Further movement of the reverse thrust lever of the right engine was accompanied by the simultaneous shifting of the throttle control lever of the left engine practically as far as the nominal mode. At this moment the airplane captain interfered in the control, shifted the throttle control lever of the right engine to idle and again activated maximum reverse of the left engine. However, in spite of the actions taken, the airplane overshot the runway at a speed of about 40 knots.^[26]
• 18 June 2012: A Mahan Air Boeing 747-300, registration EP-MND performing Hajj flight W5-5009 from Jeddah Saudi Arabia to Tehran-Mehrabad Airport Iran with 433 passengers and 25 crew, was climbing out of Jeddah when the crew received an APU fire indication, discharged the fire suppression systems without success and decided to return to Jeddah, where the aircraft landed safely. The aircraft was evacuated. 2 people received injuries in the evacuation, were taken to a local hospital and diagnosed with minor injuries.^[27][28]
• 6 October 2012: A Mahan Air Airbus A300, registration EP-MHM performing flight W5-1094 from Bandar Abbas Airport to Tehran-Mehrabad Airport Iran, was climbing out of Bandar Abbas about 10 minutes into the flight when the crew decided to return to Bandar Abbas due to problems with the cabin pressurization. The aircraft landed safely back in Bandar Abbas.^[29]
• 23 September 2013: A Boeing 747-300, registration EP-MNE, was involved in a runway excursion accident at Kerman Airport (KER), Iran. During take off from runway 34 the pilot noticed that the airplane had a tendency to the right. He attempted to maintain directional control using rudder input. He then decided to abort the takeoff. The airplane continued off the runway and came to rest. An emergency evacuation was performed during which 13 passengers were injured.^[30][31]
• 13 June 2014: A Mahan Air Airbus A310 was damaged when an airport passenger bus collided with the left hand side of the fuselage, just behind the wing at Imam Khomeini Airport.^[32]
• 17 May 2015: An Airbus A300-600 at Yerevan, touched down before active runway threshold.^[33]
• 15 Oct 2015: Low pressure Turbine of the engine number 3 of Mahan Air Boeing 747-300, registration EP-MNE, detached from the aircraft and fell into a field near Mehrabad Airport. The aircraft made an emergency landing and no injuries were reported.^[34][35]
• 24 Dec 2015: A Mahan Air Airbus A310-300, registration EP-MNP performing flight W5-112 from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (Iran) to Istanbul Atatürk Airport (Turkey) with about 150 people on board, had safely landed on Atatürk Airport's runway 05 and taxied to the apron, stand S6, but failed to stop on the stand, about 30 meters past the stand broke through a concrete barrier topped by a railing causing the nose gear to collapse, the nose fell onto the roof of a bus driving along the road underneath. No injuries occurred.^[36]

References

1. "Sales Office [Iran]" Mahan Air. Retrieved on 17 February 2011. "Tehran Central Sales office: Mahan Air Tower, Azadegan St., Karaj Highway, Tehran 1481655761- Iran."
2. "Contact Us." Mahan Air. Retrieved on 17 February 2011. "Address : Mahan Air Tower, Azadegan St., Karaj Highway, Tehran 1481655761- Iran"
3. "Making waves". Arabian Business. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
4. "Mahan Air makes waves". Arabian Business. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
5. "Treasury Designates Iranian Commercial Airline Linked to Iran's Support for Terrorism". Treasury.gov. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
6. "U.S. Sanctions Triggered by Plane Sale to Iran’s Mahan Air". WSJ. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
7. "Iranian Carrier Adds Airbuses". Airliner World: 11. July 2015.
8. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11617375
9. "Travel Classes". Mahan Air. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
10. "Travel Classes". Mahan Air. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
11. "Mahan & Miles - Terms & Conditions". Mahan Air. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
12. http://www.aviationiran.com/2016/03/21/mahan-air-started-flights-to-kiev-eyes-odessa/
13. "Mahan Air & Anor v Blue Sky One Ltd & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 544". BAILII. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
14. "Mahan Air". ch-aviation GmbH. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
15. "Fleet Information". Mahan Air. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
16. "Mahan Air has Bought New Planes to Refurbish Air Fleet". Mahan Air. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
17. "Mahan Air | Seat Map". Mahan.aero. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
18. "Photos: Cessna 525A Citation CJ2 Aircraft Pictures". Airliners.net. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
19. "Mahan Air Fleet". airfleets.net. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
20. "Mahan Airlines Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
21. "Mahan Air Fleet of A320 (History)". airfleets.net. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
22. "B747-400, EP-MNA". ch-aviation GmbH. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
23. "B747-400, EP-MNB". ch-aviation GmbH. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
24. "B747-400, EP-MNC". ch-aviation GmbH. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
25. "Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > Iran > Mahan Air". Aviation-safety.net. 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
26. "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A310-304ET F-OJHH Tehran-Mehrabad Airport (THR)". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
27. "Mahan B743 at Jeddah on Jun 18th 2012, uncontained engine failure". AeroInside. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
28. "Mahan B743 at Tehran on Jun 8th 2012, rejected takeoff". AeroInside. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
29. "Mahan A30B near Bandar Abbas on Oct 6th 2012, pressurization problem". AeroInside. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
30. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-3B3 EP-MNE Kerman International Airport (KER)". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
31. "Mahan B743 at Kerman on Sep 23rd 2013, overran runway during rejected takeoff". AeroInside. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
32. "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A310-304 EP-MNX Tehran-Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA)". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
33. "Mahan A306 at Yerevan on May 17th 2015, touched down before active runway threshold". AeroInside. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
34. "Part Of Plane's Engine Falls Off In Mid-Air". News.sky.com. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
35. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=180400
36. "Mahan A313 at Istanbul on Dec 24th 2015, failed to stop at stand". avherald.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.

External links

Media related to Mahan Air at Wikimedia Commons

• US Department of Treasury Designation
• Mahan Air official website (English)(Persian)
• VIP Interview with Hamid Arabnejad the President of Mahan Air