Yazd Airways (DZD, Yazd) - a new privately-owned airline based at Yazd Airport in central Iran - operated its first flight on the evening of February 17, initially as a virtual carrier using Mahan Air (W5, Tehran Mehrabad) as a production carrier, Iran’s IRNA and Fars news agencies reported.
It deployed BAe 146-300 EP-MOM (msn E3165) acquired from Mahan Air for the inaugural flight, from Tehran Imam Khomeini to Yazd. Besides the BAe Systems quadjet, the Yazd Air fleet will consist of two E145s and two A310-300s.
According to the Iranian transport site Tinn News, the two Embraer planes were recently ferried into the country and are currently being transferred to the local register. The two Airbus jets were, like the BAe 146, purchased from Mahan Air.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, of Mahan Air’s fleet of 41 aircraft, ten are A310-300s and four are BAe 146-300s. EP-MOM has been in the fleet since June 2013, before which it was UR-CJJ for Bukovyna Airlines.
For Yazd Air, the BAe aircraft will operate domestic routes linking Yazd with Tehran, Mashad, and other provinces of the country, while the Airbus fleet will fly to Najaf in Iraq, Dubai International, Istanbul, and Mumbai International. Mahan Air will operate the flights for the first two or three months, until 70 personnel are recruited to work for Yazd Air itself.
The general director of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation of Yazd Province told Tinn News that the primary motivation for the new company is leisure travel to Yazd, whose old city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017.
The shareholders of Yazd Air are Sepehr Kaveh Kish (50%), an import-export firm registered on Kish Island, Yazd-based mining and energy company Chadormalu Holding (49%), and businessman Reza Namkshenas (1%).
The company was registered in April-May 2022, and its board members include Chadormalu Holding representative Hossein Zatat as chairman, Sepehr Kaveh Kish representative Reza Haidari as chief executive and member of the board, and Namkshenas as deputy chairman. Around IRR900 billion rials (USD21.4 million) has reportedly been invested in the launch of Yazd Air.
