Mehrabad International Airport

Updated on Jan 16, 2024

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Serves Tehran Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30) Code THR Owner Iran Airports Company Passenger count 13,941,798		Location Tehran, Iran Address Tehran, Iran Elevation 1,208 m Yearly aircraft movements 109,750 Opened 1938

Airport type Joint (Public/Military) Operator Iran Civil Aviation Organization / Iran Air Force Focus city for Passenger Airlines Ata Airlines Atrak Air Caspian Airlines Iran Air Iran Air Tours Iran Aseman Airlines Kish Air Mahan Air Meraj Airlines Qeshm Air Taban Airlines Zagros Airlines Cargo Airlines Iran Air Cargo Iran Aseman Airlines Cargo Pouya Cargo Air Payam Air Similar IKIA, Qeshm Air, Persepolis Travel and Toursim, آداک سفر پایا, شرکت خدمات مسافرتی

Tehran mehrabad international airport

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 It was the primary airport of Tehran in both international and domestic passenger traffic but has been replaced by the new Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport for all of its scheduled international traffic.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. The airport is also the sole gateway used by the Government of Iran, a service provided by Meraj Airlines out of VIP and CIP terminals.

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.

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. All international flights have now been moved to IKA.

Facilities

Mehrabad International Airport consists of six terminals:

VIP Terminal is used for Meraj Airlines for Governmental flights.

CIP Terminal can be used at a passenger's request. The Terminal is open to all requests.

Terminal 1 is only used for the 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 and arrivals respectively - for all other airlines.

Terminals 3 and 5 are only used during the peak time Hajj seasons.

Terminal Crew is used for the 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.

It is served by two stations of the Tehran Metro:

Mehrabad Airport Terminal1&2 Metro Station

Mehrabad Airport Terminal4&6 Metro Station

Other facilities

The airport is home to the head offices of Iran Air and the Iran Civil Aviation Organization. In addition the Iranian Airports Holding Company also has its head office at Mehrabad Airport, nearby Terminal 2.

Accidents and incidents

On 15 March 1974, a Sterling Airways Sud Aviation Caravelle suffered a landing gear failure. As the aircraft was taxiing, the right main landing gear failed, causing the right wing to collapse and catch fire. 15 passengers were killed in the accident.

On 5 December 1974, a roof collapsed, killing 17 and injuring dozens more.

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.

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. The landing gear disintegrated and the ensuing fire partially consumed the wings. No one was injured in the accident, which happened around 07:30 IRST amid heavy snowfall at the airport.

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 malfunction and attempted a return 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 injured.

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.

In Popular Culture

The 2011 video game Battlefield 3 features a mission titled "Going Hunting" which requires the player to carry out aerial attacks on the airport.

The 2011 movie "Argo", directed by Ben Affleck also features this airport.

References

Mehrabad International Airport Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA