Iranian airline Mahan Air has retired the 146th BAe 146 built. BAe 146-300 EP-MOK (msn E3146) was flown to Shahdad, near Kerman, on 7 December. After making a low pass, she landed on a gravel strip, with Captain Mokhtarabadi, Mahan Air’s Bae 146/Avro RJ fleet manager, at the controls. She is due to become a restaurant. EP-MOK was built at Hatfield in 1989, and was initially operated by Italian airline Sagittair as I-ATSC. She then passed to another short-lived Italian airline, TAS. After a brief period in storage, she joined Aer Lingus Commuter‘s fleet as EI-CLH in 1995. She stayed in Ireland until 2003, an initial 5-year lease being later extended. She then went on to Bulgarian airline Hemus Air and its successor Bulgaria Air as LZ-HBG. While with Hemus Air, she spent considerable time in Iran, on lease to Taban Air. Hemus Air replaced her Embraer E-Jets in 2012, and after a brief stop in Ukraine as UR-CKY she joined Mahan Air’s fleet in April 2013, eventually adopting the registration EP-MOK.
Recent news items on Mahan Air:
- US extends sanctions on Mahan Air (2018-06-03)
- Report blames pilot error for Mahan Air BAe 146 runway over-run (2017-04-24)
- Iranian President flies on Mahan Air Avro RJ85 (2017-04-08)
- Mahan Air Avro BAe 146 damaged in runway overrun (2016-06-20)
- Mahan Air adds another Avro RJ85 (2015-11-10)