Private Iranian airline Mahan Air is planning to start operations to Lahore from Tehran in December 2017. As per Mahan Air’s website, the schedule of flights starts from 17th December 2017. Mahan Air will operate 2 weekly flights between the two cities of Lahore and Tehran. It is important to mention that since 2006 Mahan Air is planning to start operations in Pakistan. On July 25 this year Mahan Air’s Avro Rjs EP-MOQ travelled to Lahore from Mashhad as flight number W5-5107. Later Mahan’s A310 also visited Lahore but they were chartered flights.
Flight Number: W5-1195 from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International (IKA) to Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International (LHE) will operate on Wednesdays and Sunday. The flight will depart at 9 PM and arrive at 1.30 early in the morning. While the return flight W5-1194 will operate on Mondays and Thursdays with departure early in the morning at 2.45 and arrival at 4.50.
This new route by Mahan Air will provide new options to fliers from Pakistan who wish to fly onwards to Europe and further. Passengers can fly to the following destinations with Mahan Air to destinations like Paris, Dubai, Barcelona, Milan, Dusseldorf, Munich, Moscow, Istanbul, Ankara, Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, Beirut, Damascus, Kuwait, Baku and Yerevan. This is the 3rd Iranian airline that is entering Pakistani market with regular operations.
Iran’s Taban Air flies seasonal flights from Lahore to Mashhad while Pakistani Shaheen also flew this route for quite some time. to Lahore, while Iran air provides connections to Karachi from Imaam Khomeini International and now planning to start Lahore and Islamabad flights too.
Mahan Air currently has a fleet of 51 planes that include modern and classic airliners. It currently has 13 Airbus A300 that include A300 B2/B4 and 12 A300-600. It has 9 Airbus A310s, 11 A340s that include 7 A340-600s and 4 A340-300s. Mahan still operates a Boeing 747-300 but its website says it has 2 of the examples. For domestic operation, Mahan has 7, BAE Avro Rjs and 9 of the 146s, although the airline’s website claims it has 17 of the 146-300s.