Mehrabad International Airport
| Mehrabad Airport فرودگاه مهرآباد | |||
|---|---|---|---|
IATA: THR – ICAO: OIII
  THR | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Joint (Public/Military) | ||
| Serves | Tehran, Karaj | ||
| Location | Tehran, Iran | ||
| Opened | 1918[1] | ||
| Hub for |
| ||
| Elevation 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 (2010) | |||
| Aircraft Movements | 109,055 | ||
| Passengers | 13,163,368 | ||
| Cargo | 112,393 | ||
| Source: Iranian Airports Holding Company [2] | |||
Mehrabad International Airport or Mehrabad (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 It was the primary airport of Tehran in both international and domestic passenger traffic but has been replaced by Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) in most of its international flights.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 13,163,368 passengers in 2010. The airport is located inside the city boundaries and is thus much easier to access than IKA.
Training, maintenance and engineering facilities of Iran Air and Iran Aseman Airlines are located at the airport.[citation needed]
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.
IKA Airport 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.[3] All international flights have now been moved to IKA except flights to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah.[4]
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.[5][6]
Terminals
Mehrabad 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 Airlines, which are based at Terminal 2. Cargo flights are also handled at Terminal 2.
Airlines and destinations
Cargo
| Airlines | Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Iran Aseman Airlines | 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 | Cargo |
| Iran Air Cargo | Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi | 2 (Cargo) |
| 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 | Cargo |
| Lufthansa Cargo | Frankfurt | 2 (Cargo) |
| Mahan Air | Ardabil, Asalouyeh, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Dezful, Iranshahr, Isfahan, Kerman, Khorramabad, Kish Island, Mahshahr, Mashhad, Shiraz, Sirjan, Zabol | Cargo |
| Saudia | Jeddah | 2 (Cargo) |
Other facilities
The airport has the head offices of Iran Air and the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.[8][9][10] In addition the Iran Airports Holding Company also has its head office at Mehrabad Airport, by Terminal 2.[11]
Accidents and incidents
- On 5 December 1974, the roof collapsed at Mehrabad Airport, killing at least 17 and injured tens of passengers and their relatives.[12]
- 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. No American airliners had landed in Iran since the revolution. The plane left 8 hours later without incident.[13][14]
- 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.[15]
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.
- ↑ http://mehrabad.airport.ir/HomePage.aspx?TabID=5012&Site=mehrabad.airport&Lang=en-US
- ↑
- ↑ "Iran international flights switch to new airport". The Economic Times. October 28, 2007. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Kirtzkhalia, N. "Five airlines to resume flights to Batumi in summer". Trend.az. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ↑ "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."
- ↑ "Contact Us." Iran Airports Holding Company. Retrieved on 31 January 2012. "آدرس:تهران - فرودگاه مهرآباد -جنب ترمينال 2 - ساختمان مركزي شركت فرودگاههاي كشور"
- ↑ The Iranian History Article :The Roof Collapsed At Mehrabad Airport
- ↑ CNN.com - Transcripts
- ↑ Audio interview with Captain of NWA Flight 41
- ↑ "Iran Air plane skids off runway, passengers safe". AFP. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mehrabad International Airport. |
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