Mashhad international airport is the Iran's second-busiest airport, behind Tehran Mehrabad Airport. In 2016, Mashhad Airport handled a record 10 million-plus passengers, up 17% from 2015, along with 86,681 tons of cargo.[3] It has flights to 57 destinations, including frequent flights to 30 Iranian cities, and 27 destinations in Central Asia, the Middle East, East Asia and Europe.[4]
Mashhad International Airport has three terminals: a domestic flight terminal (Terminal 1), an international flight terminal (Terminal 2), and a Hajj flight terminal (Terminal 3).[5]
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate passenger flights at Mashhad International Airport:
In 1988, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, was hijacked and then diverted to Mashhad. The hijackers made some demands and then ordered the plane to fly to Cyprus and Algeria.
On 1 September 2006, Iran Air Tours Flight 945, a Tupolev Tu-154 flying from Bandar Abbas skidded off the Mashhad runway after a tire blew during landing. The aircraft caught fire, and 29 of the 147 people on board died in the accident.[12]
On 24 July 2009, Aria Air Flight 1525, an Ilyushin Il-62, route THR-MHD (Teheran Mehrabad, Iran to Mashad, Iran) crashed with 173 people on board and caught fire; 5 passengers and 11 crew members died.[13]
On 24 January 2010, Taban Air Flight 6437, a Tupolev Tu-154M, crashed while making an emergency landing at Mashhad International Airport due to a medical emergency; all 157 passengers and 13 crew survived the accident; 42 received minor injuries.[14] It was reported that the aircraft was on an ILS landing in fog when the tail struck the ground, causing the plane to veer off the runway. This was followed by a nose gear collapse, then the right wing struck the ground, causing the aircraft to burst into flames.[15][16]
On 28 January 2016, Zagros Airlines Flight 4010 was landing at Mashhad International Airport Runway 31R when the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registration EP-ZAB, skidded off the runway. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and 7 people suffered minor injuries.[17][18]
On 24 May 2018, the Tapandegan (Palpitaters in Persian), an Iranian hacker group, hacked the arrival and departure monitors at Mashhad International Airport, posting anti-government messages and images on the monitors, forcing airport authorities to manually turn off the monitors one by one.[19]
^International Traffic Report (Report). Department of Aviation and Airport Statistics and Information, Iranian Airports Holding Company. February 2017. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
