Mehrabad International Airport , is an international airport serving Tehran, the capital city ofIran. Until 2007 and before construction of Tehran’s larger new airport, Mehrabad was Tehran's primary airport in both international and domestic traffic, but after 2007 International flights transferred to Imam Khomeini International Airport. All International flights in Tehran are currently served by Imam Khomeini International Airport and all domestic flights are served by this airport. Although only domestic flights are served by this airport, in 2016 Mehrabad Airport handled 16,678,351 passengers and was the busiest airport in Iran in terms of passengers. The airport is also used by the Government of Iran and is one of the bases of the Iranian Air Force.
History
The airport was used for the first time 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 and Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star arrived, May 1957 and April 1956, respectively. Iranian Air Force. In 1955 just after construction of first asphalt paved runway a new terminal building 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 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. In June 2020, the airport released renovation plans, which Included IranAir takeover of Terminal 1&2, leaving Terminal 4&6 for other Airlines. It also included new gate systems for Terminal 4&6 and making 4 for departures, and 6 for arrivals. lastly, if renovations succeed Tehran might reconsider reopening Passenger International flights from Mehrabad Airport. on June 12, Iran's parliament requested that Tehran airport to be renamed after general Soleimani, which got declined by the IATA to prevent confusion for Ahwaz International Airport which was named after General Soleimani.
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 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.
On 5 December 1974 a roof collapsed, killing 17 and injuring dozens more.
On 8 February 1993 a mid-air collision occurred between Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154M and IRIAF Sukhoi Su-24 killing all 133 people on board both aircraft involved.
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 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 AirlinesDC-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 2 January 2008, an Iran Air Fokker 100 plane carrying 100 passengers skidded off the runway after part of its wing caught fire when attempting to take off 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 2014Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915, an HESA IrAn-140, crashed shortly after takeoff 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.
On 19 March 2019 a Fokker 100 had an emergency landing with its main landing gear not extended. Nobody was injured in the accident.
Access
The airport is served by two stations of the Tehran Metro:
