Iran's Mahan Air (W5, Tehran Mehrabad) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with authorities in Thailand that seeks to enhance Islamic tourism ties between the two countries.
During the signing ceremony in Tehran last week, Mahan Air said it plans to increase its coverage of Thailand beyond its current 5x weekly Tehran Imam Khomeini-Bangkok Suvarnabhumi service. It also plans to operate Hajj flights from Thailand to Saudi Arabia.
In December, the carrier announced plans to expand its global network reach with the launch of flights to Moscow Vnukovo and Kyiv Boryspil this quarter. Additional services to European and Asian cities including Copenhagen Kastrup are scheduled to roll out later this spring.
Though the US government removed sanctions against IranAir (IR, Tehran Mehrabad), Iran Airtour Airlines (B9, Tehran Mehrabad), Iran Air Cargo, and Aban Air (Tehran Mehrabad) last month, punitive measures are still in place against several Iranian carriers, including Mahan Air, for their alleged continued support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) as well as various other regional groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
According to US Department of the Treasury officials who spoke to Al Monitor newswire, Washington has continued to engage stakeholders around the world to "prevent Mahan Air from acquiring aircraft and aircraft parts and software, preventing the opening of new routes and working to get existing routes cancelled." The report claims that countries that facilitate Mahan Air's growth risk unspecified penalties.
Mahan Air famously acquired a fleet of seven ex-Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) and Hi Fly Malta (3L, Malta International) A340-600s as well as an ex-Virgin Atlantic A340-300 through its Iraqi proxy Al-Naser Airlines (Baghdad) in May last year in contravention of international sanctions. Al-Naser Airlines has since been blacklisted by the US Treasury.
