Tehran Mehrabad International Airport (IATA:THR,ICAO:OIII) – commonly known asMehrabad Airport – is an airport located in the city ofTehran, the capital ofIran. Formerly serving as the city's primary airport for bothdomestic andinternational flights, it now primarily handles domestic traffic following the opening ofImam Khomeini International Airport for international flights in 2007. Despite this, Mehrabad remains thebusiest airport in Iran by passenger volume and aircraft movements.
The airport opened in 1938 and serves as Iran's main airport. Since its establishment it has been the busiest airport in the country. In 2017, it handled 17,464,216 passengers. The airport is also used by theGovernment of Iran, and is one of the bases of theIslamic Republic of Iran Air Force. It is capable of accommodating various types of aircraft. Mehrabad is operated by the Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company and remains critical to the country's aviation network. Playing a strategic role in domestic connectivity and government aviation operations.
Mehrabad Airport serves 60 nonstop destinations through 23 airlines as of 2025. It is largely served by Iran Air, theflag carrier and largest airline in the country. The airport has four active terminals, built throughout different time periods in order to reach the airports capacity.
The site was originally called Base-J and was the site of the Imperial Iranian Army's first Armored and Mechanized artillery forces provided by the CzechoslovakianSkoda Works, under the command of GeneralMahmud Mir-Djalali (grandfather ofPierre Omidyar).
The airport was used for the first time as an airfield for aviation club planes in 1938. DuringWorld War II it became a stopover point for the U.S.Air Transport Command.[3] After the war, along with becoming internationally recognized by joining the Iranian civil aviation organization to theICAO in 1949, the airport also became anair force base.
In 1955 just after the construction of the first asphalt-paved runway, a new terminal building (current Terminal 1) for both international and domestic flights was designed and constructed. In April 1956Lockheed T-33 Shooting Stars (T-33As) trainer aircraft began arriving for theImperial Iranian Air Force. In May 1957 these were followed byRepublic F-84 Thunderjet (F-84Gs)fighter.
In May 1975,Iran Air started flying to New York via London with a Boeing 707.[4] The airline launched direct service to New York using Boeing 747SPs the following June.[5][6] The construction of anew airport commenced 35 kilometres (22 mi) from Tehran in 1977. The city was growing around Mehrabad, and the airfield was witnessing high amounts of traffic.[7][8] Between 1970 and 1976, passenger counts had risen from 900,000 to 3,020,000.[9]
On 24 January 1979, the military took control of Mehrabad and other airports in the country in an attempt to preventAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's return from exile in Paris.[10] It ultimately relented and permitted his arrival at Mehrabad aboard a chartered Air France plane eight days later.[11]
At the beginning of theIran–Iraq War in September 1980, Iraq carried out an air strike on the airport.[12] In the 1980s, Mehrabad's route network spanned from Paris to Beijing.[13]
By 2000, the airport was serving nine million passengers annually, in addition to military flights. Due to the congestion, airlines advised travellers to arrive at Mehrabad three hours prior to departure.[7] The new airport, now called Imam Khomeini International Airport, opened in 2004. However, political factors delayed the transfer of all international flights to the new facility.[14] All international flights had moved to Imam Khomeini Airport by March 2008.[14]
After the transfer of all International flights to Imam Khomeini, Mehrabad became solely for domestic traffic. Despite this, it has faced being overcrowded with the expansion of air travel in the country. In 2015 a proposal for a seventh terminal at Mehrabad was made, with plans to open a new twenty-gate terminal located between terminal 1, 2, 4, 6. Originally anticipated to be complete by 2020. Construction never began, and it is unclear if it is still to the airports interest.[15]
In 2019, a proposal to transfer domestic flights to Imam Khomeini airport was made. However it was abandoned and has not been officially considered due it being protested by Iranians and Tehranis as it would require a longer travel from the city to the further Imam Khomeini airport.[16]
During theJune 2025 Israeli strikes on Iran, the airport was closed. On 14 June 2025, a fire was burning at a hangar formilitary jets at the airport.[17] The airport reopened on 4 July 2025, 22 days after being closed.
Terminal 1 opened in 1955 as Mehrabad Airports main terminal, it was the first advanced airport in the Middle East. The building has been registered as a national historical monument in Iran due to its architecture and its importance in the countries development. It is responsible for flights operated by the following airlines:Air1Air,Chabahar Airlines,Kish Air,Varesh Airlines, andZagros Airlines.[21]
Formerly, Mehrabad had a Terminal 3 that was used for Hajj flights, which were transferred to Imam Khomeini. It also had a Terminal 5 that was used for cargo flights, which were also transferred to Imam Khomeini.
Since 2007, after international routes were moved to a new airport located inVahnabad. The airport only serves domestic flights to 41 Iranian cities.[citation needed]
On 5 December 1974 a roof collapsed, killing 17 and injuring dozens more.[44]
On 21 January 1980Iran Air Flight 291 crashed into theAlborz mountains on approach to Mehrabad, killing all 128 people on board.[45]
On 8 February 1993a mid-air collision occurred between Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154M and IRIAF Sukhoi Su-24, killing all 133 people on board both aircraft involved.[46]
On 2 February 2000, During takeoff, aLockheed C-130 Hercules with eight occupants onboard veered off the runway and had struck an emptyIran AirAirbus A300B2-203 that was being towed to a hangar. Eight people died.[47]
On 20 April 2005,Saha Airlines Flight 171 [fa;fr], aBoeing 707-3J9C, had an accident while landing in Mehrabad airport. After touchdown on runway 29L, problems with the undercarriage (failure of landing gear or a burst tire) caused the Boeing 707 to slide off the runway into the Kan River. Three passengers were killed after they fell in the river during the evacuation.[48]
19 June 2005 (2005-06-19):at 0435 in the morning Tehran local time,Northwest Airlines Flight 41, Ship No. 1243, operating fromMumbai toAmsterdam made an emergency landing at the airport. It was the first American commercial flight to land in Iran in 26 years, since theIranian Revolution in 1979.[49] Fire had been spotted at the airplane's main cabin.
On 2 January 2008, anIran AirFokker 100 (EP-IDB) plane carrying 100 passengers skidded off the runway after part of its wing caught fire when attempting to take off on a domestic flight toShiraz Airport. The landing gear disintegrated and the ensuing fire partially consumed the wings. No one was injured in the accident, which happened around 07:30IRST amid heavy snowfall at the airport.[51]
On 10 August 2014Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915, anHESA IrAn-140, crashed shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport. The aircraft experienced engine malfunction and attempted a return to the airport four minutes after takeoff, but was unable to maintain altitude and crashed into a residential area. 39 people were killed and nine were injured.[52]
On 15 October 2015 a Mahan Air Boeing 747 en route to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran lost pieces of an engine after take-off, returning for a successful emergency landing. None of the 300 people on board were injured.[53]
On 19 March 2019 aFokker 100 (registration: EP-IDG) had an emergency landing with its main landing gear not extended. Nobody was injured in the accident.[54]
^R. Frank Futrell, “The Development of Base Facilities,” in The Army Air Forces in World War II, vol. 6, Men and Planes, Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, eds. (Washington, D.C., Office of Air Force History, new imprint, 1983), 157, 160; John D. Carter, “The Air Transport Command,” The Army Air Forces in World War II, vol. 7, Services Around the World, ed. Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, 42, 44–45 (Washington, D.C., Office of Air Force History, new imprint, 1983).
^نقشه مترو.Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Operation Co. (in Persian). Archived fromthe original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved10 September 2023.
^"ارتباط با هماArchived June 23, 2012, at theWayback Machine."IranAir. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "آدرس : تهران ، جاده مخصوص كرج ، بلوار فرودگاه ،ادارات مركزي هما ، ساختمان پشتيباني ، طبقه دوم ، اتاق 217"
^"Contact IranAirArchived May 20, 2012, at theWayback Machine."IranAir. Retrieved on 12 January 2011. "Address: No.221,Second Floor,Public Relations,Support Services BLd., IranAir H.Q.,Mehrabad Airport,Tehran,Iran."
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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