Mahan Air

History

Mahan Air as a Full-Service Carrier (FSC), 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%).

Three Airbus A300B4 passenger aircraft were acquired in 1999 and later in 2002 A310 and A320 types joined the fleet. According to the British High Court, three 747-400s were unlawfully taken by Mahan Air 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. The Fleet has gone through an extensive modernization since 2006 as Boeing 747-400’s, A300-600's, RJ-100’s as well as A340-600’s were gradually acquired to enable Mahan Air to provide additional capacity on its current destinations as well as extending its reach to further destinations worldwide.

The airline carried 5.4 million passengers in 2015 with an average load factor of 77% and in mid-2015 had a fleet of 60 aircraft, making it the largest airline in Iran based on seat numbers and fleet size. It operates scheduled passenger services to international destinations in Europe, Far East and the Middle East. Mahan Air has an extensive domestic route network too. The airline commenced Copenhagen and Paris (CDG) services in the first half of 2016. On 6 April 2016 Mahan Air was banned from flying over Saudi Arabian airspace.

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."

Since December 2011, Mahan Air has been subject to several sanctions imposed by the US Department of Treasury for allegedly violating international laws by ferrying arms and reinforcements to designated groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which promote "terrorism" according to the United States and European Union.

Emanuele Ottolenghi, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

Ottolenghi observed that although the U.S. government “has repeatedly committed itself to grounding” Mahan Air, which the IRGC uses to transport troops and weapons to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the airline continues to fly and is in fact expanding its international routes. He added that Mahan is the most “significant” Iranian entity remaining under American sanctions, explaining:

"...A Western intelligence report leaked to Reuters in 2012 confirmed that Mahan was at the center of the IRGC airlift to the Assad regime.

...Treasury in 2012 raised concerns about Mahan violations of civil-aviation rules, including the use of “a combination of passenger and cargo flights and declaring illicit cargo as humanitarian and other licit goods.” Nearly five years into Syria’s civil war, Mahan continues to offer the IRGC steady logistical support."

In May 2016, Representative Brad Sherman and two dozen other members of U.S. Congress wrote David O'Sullivan, the EU ambassador to the U.S. urging the EU to "promptly end Mahan Air's operations in Europe," saying that doing so would "signal to European businesses that the EU will remain vigilant in acting against Iranian companies supporting terrorism and Assad's regime."

Corporate affairs

Mahan Air is headquartered in Tehran. Its current slogan is "The Spirit of Excellence."

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

Current fleet

The Mahan Air fleet consists of the following aircraft as of February 2017.

Former fleet

Over the years, Mahan has operated the following aircraft types: