Mahan Air B747
Mahan Air B747

Mahan Air Re-activate The World’s Last B747-300 Passenger Aircraft

Mahan Air has previously operated 2 B747-300 passenger aircraft, predominantly on domestic routes inside Iran.

On 15th October 2015, one of their B747-300s, EP-MNE, was involved in an incident where one engine fell on approach and the parts damaged another engine. The aircraft engine number 3 was damaged ,due to uncontained engine failure, and some parts of the engine rear components detached and hit the engine number 4 as well as the aircraft structure. The plane was able to land safely and was carrying 19 flight crew and 422 passengers.

Surprisingly, EP-MNE didn't get written off! Mahan Air put in 5 years of work in maintenance on her and she completed a heavy C-check. They managed to transfer 2 engines from a retired sister ship, EP-MND, and got this B747-300 back flying in the sky once again.

a large white airplane in the sky

It is currently operating domestic routes from Tehran to Mashad, Bander Abbas and Kish Island.

a large white airplane on a runway

I flew on Mahan Air B747-300 domestically in Iran a few years ago. I made a trip report and was very lucky to have gotten to fly on the upper deck.

Mahan Air also operates a single B747-400, EP-MNB, which is currently operating ad-hoc domestic routes, but will be based at Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) in the near future for some international routes.

a large white airplane on a runway
a large white airplane flying in the sky

Last year a Iranian Air Force's 747-200B, registered 5-8106, suffered severe damage after an engine run caused it to either suffer a brake failure or jump the chocks, during an engine run at Tehran's downtown Mehrabad airport.

This unfortunate event happened at the conclusion of a six-year long D-check.

All Photo by Shahram Sharifi