- Mehrabad International Airport
-
"Mehrabad" redirects here. For the city in Yazd Province formerly called Mehrabad, see Mehrdasht.
Mehrabad Airport
فرودگاه مهرآباد
IATA: THR – ICAO: OIII Location of airport in Iran
THRSummary Airport type Joint (Public/Military) Serves Tehran, Karaj Location Tehran, Iran Hub for Iran Air
Iran Asseman Airlines
Mahan Air
Caspian Airlines
Iran Air Tours Secondary
Kish Air Secondary
Aria Air
Saha Airlines
Taban AirlinesElevation AMSL 3,962 ft / 1,208 m Coordinates 35°41′21″N 051°18′49″E / 35.68917°N 51.31361°E Website 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 (2009) Aircraft Movements 102,014 Passengers 12,094,218 Cargo 105,601 Source: Iranian Airports Holding Company [1] Mehrabad International Airport (Persian: فرودگاه مهرآباد) (IATA: THR, ICAO: OIII) 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 It was the primary airport of Tehran in both international and domestic passenger traffic but has been replaced by Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) in most of its international flights. It is still by far the busiest airport in Iran in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movements, handling 12,094,218 passengers in 2009. The airport is located inside the city boundaries and is thus much easier to access than IKA.
Training, maintenance and engineering facilities of Iran's National Carrier Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, and Saha Airlines are located at this airport.
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. Mahan Air, Iran Air.
The change of international flights to IKA, finished in 2004, was gradual, starting with flights to countries bordering the Persian Gulf. All international flights have now been moved to IKA except flights to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah.[2]
Contents
History
Mehrabad Airport 1958
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]
Terminals, airlines and destinations
Terminal 2 interiorMehrabad International Airport consists of six terminals, with Terminals 1, 3 and 5 only used during Haj and Umrah seasons. Most other airlines operate out of Terminals 4 and 6, except of Iran Air, Iran Air Tours and ATA Air, which are based at Terminal 2. Cargo flights are also handled at Terminal 2
Line-up of aircraft at Mehrabad (2009).Airlines Destinations Terminal Air Atlanta Icelandic Luxembourg 2 (cargo) Aria Air Bandar Abbas, Isfahan, Kish Island, Lar, Mashad, Qeshm Island 4, 6 ATA Air Kish Island, Mashad, Ardabil, Tabriz, Urmia 2 Cargolux Dubai, Luxembourg, Hong Kong 2 (cargo) Caspian Airlines Ahvaz, Kish Island, Mashhad, Tabriz 4, 6 Eram Air Avhaz, Bandar Abbas, Kish Island, Mashad, Tabriz 4, 6 Fars Air Qeshm Bandar Abbas, Bandar Lengeh, Qeshm Island, Mahshahr 4, 6 Hesa Airlines Isfahan 4, 6 Iran Air Seasonal: Jeddah, Madinah 1, 5 Iran Air Ahvaz, Ardabil, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Bushehr, Gheshm, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Kish Island, Lar, Mashad, Rasht, Shahre-Kord, Sary, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmia, Yazd, Zahedan 2 Iran Air Tours Abadan, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Khorramabad, Mashad, Rasht, Sary, Shahrekord, Shiraz, Tabriz, Urmieh, Yazd, Zahedan 2 Iran Aseman Airlines Abadan, Ahvaz, Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bam, Birjand, Bojnord, Bushehr, Gorgan, Gheshm, Ilam, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Kish Island, Khoy, Lamerd, Lar, Mashad, Rafsanjan, Ramsar, Rasht, Sabzevar, Sahand, Sanandaj, Shiraz, Tabas, Tabriz, Yasouj, Yazd 4, 6 Iranian Airlines Isfahan, Kish Island 4, 6 Kish Air Abadan, Asalouyeh, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Hamadan, Isfahan, Qeshm Island, Kish Island , Mahshahr, Mashad, Shiraz, Shahrekord, Tabriz 4, 6 Lufthansa Cargo Leipzig/Halle, Sharjah 2 (cargo) Mahan Air Seasonal: Jeddah 1, 5 Mahan Air Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Birjand, Bandar Abbas, Dezful, Iranshahr, Isfahan, Kerman, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashad, Shiraz, Sirjan, Zabol 4, 6 Martinair Cargo Amsterdam 2 (cargo) Naft Air Lines Ahvaz, Mahshahr 4, 6 Saha Air Avhaz, Kish Island, Mashad 4, 6 Sahand Asia Air Mashad 4, 6 Saudi Arabian Airlines Seasonal: Jeddah, Madinah 1, 5 Saudi Arabian Airlines Cargo Jeddah 2 (cargo) Zagros Air Ahwaz, Mashad, Kish Island, Shiraz, Siri Island 4, 6 Other facilities
Iran Air head officeThe airport has the head offices of Iran Air and the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.[5][6][7]
Accidents and incidents
- 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 a landing gear or tyre burst) 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. No American airliners had landed in Iran since the revolution. The plane left 8 hours later without incident.[8][9]
- 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.[10]
Film shot at Mehrabad Airport
- 1965 The Poppy is also a Flower directed by Terence Young
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- Mehrabad Airport (official web site)
- A-Z World Airports: Mehrabad Airport (THR/OIII)
- Airport information for OIII at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- ^ [1]
- ^ 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.
- ^ http://www.tkellner.com/index.php?id=3267
- ^ The Modern Airport Terminal: New Approaches to Airport Architecture. Brian Edwards. Taylor & Francis, 2005. ISBN 978-0-415-24812-9 pp.72
- ^ "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"
- ^ "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."
- ^ "Aircraft Accident/ Incident Report Form New Edition." Iran Civil Aviation Organization. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "vice president of civil Aviation in flight standard, Civil Aviation Organization, Mehrabad international airport, Tehran, Iran."
- ^ CNN.com - Transcripts
- ^ Audio interview with Captain of NWA Flight 41
- ^ "Iran Air plane skids off runway, passengers safe". AFP. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCZFq3IgeJJyAjQSULFgE7WMaVQA. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
External links
Categories:- Airports in Iran
- Transport in Tehran
- Buildings and structures in Tehran
- William Pereira buildings
- USAAF Air Transport Command Airfields - Middle East
- Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
