Kish Air

Kish Airlines (Persian: هواپیمایی کیش, Havāpeymāyi-e Kish) is an airline operating from Kish Island, Iran.^[1] It operates international, domestic and charter services as a scheduled carrier. Its main bases are Kish International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran.^[2]

History

The airline was established on December 16, 1989, and started operations in 1990. It is owned by Kish Free Zone Organisation (79%), Kish Investment and Development (11%) and Kish Development and Servicing (10%).^{[citation needed]}

To start its passenger operations, after receiving temporary operations permission, the airline leased two aircraft (three Tupolev Tu-154 and four McDonnell Douglas MD-82/MD-83) from Bulgaria Airlines on a wet lease. Kish Air received its air operator certificate (AOC) in 1991, thus becoming the first private company to receive its AOC from Civil Aviation of Iran. At this time the company began wet-leasing three Tupolev Tu-154Ms from Russian leasing companies, returning the previously leased Bulgarian aircraft. The company also wet-leased two Yakovlev Yak-42D aircraft from Russia.

Towards the end of 1992, the company was at the verge of bankruptcy, and most of the key managers were replaced.^[when?] In 1999, Kish Air having enough financial strength, decided to replace its wet-leased fleet with dry leased and purchased aircraft, and was able to operate two dry leased and two purchased Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft and hire and train the required aircrew and maintenance personnel. At present^[when?] Kish Air also operates a fleet of medium-range MD-80 series aircraft and short-range Fokker 100 on its domestic and international routes.

Destinations

As of September 2023, Kish Air operates services to the following destinations:

Fleet

As of April 2023, Kish Air operates the following aircraft:^[4]

Fleet development

In April 2017, it was announced that the airline planned to order six aircraft from ATR, with variant and delivery dates announced if, and when, the deal is signed by the airline. The aircraft were planned to be used to increase the number of flights on domestic flights in Iran.^[6]

Former fleet

The airline previously operated the following aircraft (at November 2017):^[7]

2 Airbus A320 leased from Jordan Aviation
1 Boeing 737-500 leased from Bukovyna Airlines
7 Fokker 50

Accidents and incidents

On 19 September 1995, Kish Air Flight 707 was hijacked by flight attendant Reza Jabbari and landed in Israel, where the hijacker was arrested. Jabbari requested asylum and declared his intention of converting to Judaism.^[8] Sentenced to eight years in prison, he served four years but was granted asylum and remained in Israel.^[9] He eventually became an Israeli citizen and converted to Judaism.^[10]
On 10 February 2004, Kish Air Flight 7170, operated by a Fokker 50 Mk.050, crashed at Sharjah International Airport killing 43 people. There were three survivors with serious injuries. The cause was that the propellers were put into reverse pitch while the aircraft was in flight.^[11]^{[citation needed]}

References

^ "Directory: World airlines." Flight International. 23–29 March 2004. 94.
^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 101.
^ "Kish to Dubai flights has been launched". 9 June 2023.
^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 17.
^ https://www.iranintl.com/en/202403155319
^ "Kish Air to buy six aircraft from ATR". www.iran-daily.com. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
^ "Kish Air Fleet Details and History". www.flightradar24.com.
^ Linzer, Dafna (1995-09-27). "Iranian Hijacker Wants To Stay In Israel". AP News. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
^ Refeal, Tabby (2022-05-04). "One Israel Story You've Probably Never Heard". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
^ "Iranian hijacker converts to judaism". The Dawn. 2007-03-03. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
^ "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT 01/04" (PDF). General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE. Retrieved 21 August 2009.

External links

Media related to Kish Air at Wikimedia Commons

Kish Air fleet list
Kish Air photos