Mahan Air reactivates a B747-300 for passenger-flights
Aviation blogger Sam Chui has reported that Mahan Air has reactivated one of its two B747-300s. EP-MNE (23480) rejoined the flying fleet and is used on domestic flights out of Tehran to Bander Abbas, Kish Island and Mashad.
The Jumbojet has been grounded since 15 October 2015 when it suffered an uncontained engine failure, detaching the engine itself but also inflicting damage to the wings and fuselage. Luckily, the aircraft was able to land safely and no one of the 441 people on board were hurt. Mahan Air worked over the last years to bring it back, which included a two engine transfer from sister-ship EP-MND (23413) and a C-Check. The airline will now start work to also return EP-MND back to the air.
In total, the Iranian airline has a fleet of 41 aircraft, consisting of four A300-600s, nine A310-300s, five A340-300s, seven A340-600s, two B747-300s, one B747-400, one BAe146-200, four BAe146-300s, five RJ85s and three RJ100s.