Mehrabad International Airport

Tehran Mehrabad International Airport فرودگاه مهرآباد
IATA: THR – ICAO: OIII THR Location of airport in Iran
Summary
Airport type	Joint (Public/Military)
Owner	Iranian Airports Holding Company
Operator	Iran Civil Aviation Organization/Iran Air Force
Serves	Tehran, Karaj, Qom
Location	Tehran, Iran
Opened	1938[1]
Hub for	Passenger Airlines Ata Airlines Atrak Air Caspian Airlines Chabahar Airlines Iran Civil Aviation Organization Iran Air Iran Air Tours Iran Aseman Airlines Iranian Air Transport Kish Air Mahan Air Meraj Airlines National Cartographic Center Qeshm Air Payam Air Taban Airlines Zagros Airlines Cargo Airlines Iran Air Cargo Iran Aseman Airlines Cargo Pouya Cargo Air Yas Air Cargo
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+04:30)
Elevation AMSL	3,962 ft / 1,208 m
Coordinates	35°41′21″N 051°18′49″E / 35.68917°N 51.31361°E
Website	mehrabad.airport.ir
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 09/27 1,556 474 Concrete 11L/29R 13,098 3,992 Asphalt 11R/29L 13,248 4,038 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft Movements 109,750 Passengers 13,941,798 Cargo 95,156 tons
Source: Iranian Airports Holding Company[2]

Tehran Mehrabad International Airport (Persian: فرودگاه مهرآباد‎‎) (IATA: THR, ICAO: OIII), also known as Tehran-Mehrabad, is an airport that serves Tehran, Iran. It was the primary airport of Tehran in both international and domestic passenger traffic but has been replaced by the new Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport for most of its international traffic. Mehrabad however is still by far the busiest airport in Iran in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movements, handling 13,617,094 passengers in 2014. It is capable of handling wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340-600. Besides, it is also being used for all the Air transports for the Heads of State and Government of Iran, which operates by Meraj Airlines in the VIP's and CIP's Terminal.

History

The airport was first time used as an airfield for aviation club planes in 1938, then after World War II along with becoming internationally recognized by joining Iran civil aviation organization to the ICAO in 1949, the airport also became an air force base.

Newly delivered Republic F-84G Thunderjets (fighter) and Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star (trainer) arrived, May 1957 and April 1956, respectively. Iranian Air Force. In 1955 just after construction of first asphalt paved runway a new terminal building (Current Terminal 1) for both international and domestic flights was designed and constructed. Among the designers of the initial modern buildings of the airport was the famous architect William Pereira.^[3][4]

The new Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) was scheduled to open in 2004 with international flights gradually changing from Mehrabad starting with flights to countries bordering the Persian Gulf. After IKA's initial opening in May 2004, due to complications, it was not until the end of 2007 that the plan to move the majority of international flights to the new airport was completed.^[5] All international flights have now been moved to IKA.^[6]

Facilities

Terminal 2 interior

Mehrabad International Airport consists of six terminals:

• VIP Terminal is used for Meraj Airlines for Governmental flights.
• CIP Terminal is used at passengers request and it's opened to all requests.
• Terminal 1 is only used for departures of Kish Air and Zagros Airlines.
• Terminal 2 handles all flights of Iran Air, Iran Air Tours, Meraj Airlines, Qeshm Air and Ata Airlines and for arrivals of Kish Airlines and Zagros Airlines, but all the Jet bridges are only being used for Meraj Airlines. It also used for all cargo operations.
• Terminals 4 and 6 handle departures (Terminal 4) and arrivals (Terminal 6) for all other airlines.
• Terminals 3 and 5 are only used during the peak time Hajj seasons.
• Terminal Crew is used for flight crews of all airlines.

An aircraft engineering and maintenance company Fajr Ashian, has a maintenance hangar adjacent to main airport premises. The hangar is linked to Mehrabad Airport through a taxiway crossing "Tehran-Karaj" Highway. Fajr Ashian takes care of Aircraft of many companies e.g. Iran Air, Mahan Air, Meraj Airlines.

Mehrabad Airport in 1958

The first Iran Aseman Airlines Airbus A340 at Mehrabad (2012)

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Ata Airlines	Ahwaz, Ardabil, Kish Island, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmia[7]	2
Atrak Air	Bandar Abbas, Bojnord, Kish Island, Mashhad, Shiraz	4 & 6
Caspian Airlines	Ahwaz, Mashhad, Sanandaj[8]	4 & 6
Iran Air	Abadan, Ahwaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Bushehr, Qeshm Island, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Lar, Mashhad, Rasht, Sari, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmia, Yazd, Zahedan	2
Iran Air Tours	Abadan, Ahwaz, Ardabil,[9] Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Rasht, Shahrekord, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmieh, Yazd, Zahedan	2
Iran Aseman Airlines	Abadan, Ahwaz, Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bam, Birjand, Bandar Abbas, Bojnord, Bushehr, Gachsaran, Gorgan, Qeshm Island, Ilam, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Kish Island, Khoy, Lamerd, Lar, Mashhad, Rafsanjan, Ramsar, Rasht, Sabzevar, Sahand, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmieh, Yasouj, Yazd	4 & 6
Iranian Naft Airlines	Abadan, Aghajari, Ahwaz, Dezful, Isfahan, Kharg Island, Mahshahr, Yazd	2
Kish Air	Abadan, Ahwaz, Asalouyeh, Bandar Abbas, Hamadan, Isfahan, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashhad, Qeshm, Shiraz, Shahrekord, Tabriz	1 & 2
Mahan Air	Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bam, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Bojnord, Dezful, Gachsaran, Ilam, Jiroft, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashhad, Qeshm, Rafsanjan, Rasht, Sari, Sanandaj, Shahrekord, Shahrood, Shiraz, Sirjan, Tabas, Zabol, Zahedan	4 & 6
Meraj Airlines	Bandar Abbas, Dezful, Kermanshah, Kish Island, Mashhad, Qeshm Island, Shiraz, Tabriz	2
Qeshm Airlines	Abadan, Ahwaz, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Isfahan, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashhad, Qeshm Island, Sanandaj, Shiraz	2
Taban Air	Ahwaz, Isfahan, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Mashhad	4 & 6
Zagros Airlines	Ahwaz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Kish Island, Shiraz, Sirri Island	1 & 2

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Iran Aseman Airlines Cargo	Abadan, Ahwaz, Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bam, Birjand, Bojnord, Bushehr, Gachsaran, Gorgan, Qeshm Island, Ilam, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Kish Island, Khoy, Lamerd, Lar, Mashhad, Rafsanjan, Ramsar, Rasht, Sabzevar, Sahand, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Tabas, Tabriz, Yasouj, Yazd
Iran Air Cargo	Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi
Iran Air Cargo	Abadan, Ahwaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Bushehr, Qeshm Island, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Lar, Mashhad, Rasht, Sary, Shiraz, Tabriz, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Urmia, Yazd, Zahedan
Mahan Air	Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Dezful, Iranshahr, Isfahan, Kerman, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashhad, Shiraz, Sirjan, Zabol

Other facilities

The airport has the head offices of Iran Air and the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.^[10][11][12] In addition the Iranian Airports Holding Company also has its head office at Mehrabad Airport, nearby Terminal 2.^[13]

Accidents and incidents

• On 5 December 1974, a roof collapsed, killed 17 and injured dozens more.^[14]
• On 20 April 2005, a Boeing 707-3J9C had an accident while landing in Mehrabad airport. After touchdown on runway 29L problems with the undercarriage (failure of landing gear or a burst tire) caused the Boeing 707 to slide off the runway into the Kan River. Three passengers were killed after they fell in the river during the evacuation.
• On 19 June 2005, a Northwest Airlines DC-10 en route from Mumbai to Amsterdam made an emergency landing at Mehrabad Airport due to an indication of a fire in the cargo hold, which turned out to be a false alarm. The plane left 8 hours later without incident.^[15][16]
• On 6 December 2005, an Iranian Air Force C-130 Hercules crashed in Tehran shortly after taking off from the airport.
• On 2 January 2008, an Iran Air Fokker 100 (EP-IDB) plane carrying 100 passengers skidded off the runway after part of its wing caught fire when attempting to takeoff on a domestic flight to Shiraz Airport. Its wheels were disconnected and part of its wing caught fire. No one was injured in the accident, which happened around 07:30 IRST amid heavy snowfall at the airport.^[17]
• On 10 August 2014, Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915, an HESA IrAn-140, crashed shortly after take off from Mehrabad International Airport. The aircraft experienced engine problems and had turned back to the airport 4 minutes after takeoff, but was unable to maintain altitude and crashed into a residential area. 39 people were killed and 9 were hospitalized.^[18]
• On 15 October, 2015, a Mahan Air Boeing 747 en route to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran lost pieces of an engine after take-off, returning for a successful emergency landing. None of the 300 people on board were injured.^[19]

In Popular Culture

The 1965 movie The Poppy Is Also a Flower, directed by Terence Young, was partially shot at the airport.

See also

• Iran Civil Aviation Organization
• Transport in Iran
• List of airports in Iran
• List of the busiest airports in Iran
• List of airlines of Iran
• Meraj Airlines

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

1. http://mehrabad.airport.ir/office/pages/about
2. "Default". Statistics.airport.ir. 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
3. "Thomas Kellner - Photography in Art: Pereira, William". Tkellner.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
4. The Modern Airport Terminal: New Approaches to Airport Architecture. Brian Edwards. Taylor & Francis, 2005. ISBN 978-0-415-24812-9 pp.72
5. "Iran international flights switch to new airport". The Economic Times. October 28, 2007. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
6. Rezaee, Siavash (2007-10-30). "President of National Civil Aviation Organization in an interview with "Iran": small airlines will be eliminated" (in Persian). Iran-e Eqtesadi. p. 2.
7. مهرداد شادمان منش-حسین صفدری. "هواپیمایی آتا". ataair.ir.
8. "برقراری پرواز تهران -سنندج با هواپیمایی کاسپین". سایت خبری خطوط هوایی ایران و جهان.
9. "پروازهای فرودگاه اردبیل به تهران افزایش یافت.". سایت خبری خطوط هوایی ایران و جهان.
10. "ارتباط با هما." IranAir. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "آدرس : تهران ، جاده مخصوص كرج ، بلوار فرودگاه ،ادارات مركزي هما ، ساختمان پشتيباني ، طبقه دوم ، اتاق 217"
11. "Contact IranAir." IranAir. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "Address: No.221,Second Floor,Public Relations,Support Services BLd., IranAir H.Q.,Mehrabad Airport,Tehran,Iran."
12. "Aircraft Accident/ Incident Report Form New Edition." Iranian Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "vice president of civil Aviation in flight standard, Civil Aviation Organization, Mehrabad international airport, Tehran, Iran."
13. "Contact Us." Iranian Airports Holding Company. Retrieved on 31 January 2012. "آدرس:تهران - فرودگاه مهرآباد -جنب ترمينال 2 - ساختمان مركزي شركت فرودگاه‌هاي كشور"
14. The Iranian History Article :The Roof Collapsed At Mehrabad Airport
15. "CNN.com - Transcripts". cnn.com.
16. "Episode 4: Bo Corby & NWA Flight 41 into Tehran". flightpodcast.com.
17. "Iran Air plane skids off runway, passengers safe". AFP. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
18. "At Least 39 Killed in Iran Plane Crash". Reuters. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
19. "747 plane engine snaps off in Iran flight, no injuries". msn.com.

External links

Media related to Mehrabad International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for OIII at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for THR at Aviation Safety Network