Info:
Fars Air Qeshm is an Iranian airline based in Qeshm. It temporarily ceased operations in 2013 due to bad management and financial problems. Operations were restarted with new management team in March 2017 based in Tehran with two Boeing 747-281F Combi (Passenger / cargo) aircraft;
In April 2017, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a report about another IRGC-controlled company – Qeshm Fars Air, which took delivery of two Boeing 747-200F vintage cargo planes from Afghanistan’s Kam Air using an Armenian intermediary. The first of these planes, EP-FAA, was immediately pressed into daily flights between Tehran and Damascus (route numbers QFZ9950 and QFZ9951). Iranian and Syrian airlines have hauled about 21,000 passengers between Tehran/Abadan and Damascus in the past months (Feb – Mar 2017), along with over 5,000 tons of supplies. Most of these passengers were military or paramilitary personnel;
Almost all of the flights in question are fully chartered by the IRGC and usually unavailable to the general public. It is worth noting that on the way to Syria, the Iranians use Iraqi airports, including the Najaf airport, which is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards;
Qeshm Fars Air, which originally operated as a commercial airline between 2006 and 2013, restarted operations in 2017, and its fleet of two B747 aircraft have operated regular cargo flights to Damascus, delivering cargo, including weapons shipments, on behalf of the IRGC-QF. Mahan Air employees fill Qeshm Fars Air management positions, and Mahan Air provides technical and operational support for Qeshm Fars Air, facilitating the airline’s illicit operations. The delivery of lethal materiel by Qeshm Fars Air enables Iran’s military support for the Assad regime, prolonging the brutal conflict and the suffering of millions of Syrians, and has resulted in the displacement of millions across the region;
Qeshm Fars Air is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 for being owned or controlled by Mahan Air, as well as for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF.
OFAC is also identifying two B747 aircraft as property in which Qeshm Fars Air has an interest: EP-FAA and EP-FAB. These identifications serve to warn those who provide support to these aircraft that they could be exposed to U.S. sanctions;
Industry:
Aviation Industry
Also Known As:
Fars Airlines
Established:
2003
Country:
Iran
Address:
Tehran, Iran
Website:
www.farsairlines.com/
E-mail:
info@farsairlines.com/
Operating bases:
Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport
Fleet size:
2
Destinations: 16
Dubai Al-Maktum Intl. Airport
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Intl. Airport
Bishkek Manas Intl. Airport
Kuala KualaLumpur Intl. Airport
Almaty Almaty Intl. Airport
Doha Hamad Intl. Airport
Beirut Rafic Hariri Intl. Airport
Damascus Damascus Intl. Airport
Karachi Jinnah Intl. Airport
Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli Intl. Airport
Mongolia Chinggiz Khaan Intl. Airport
Erbil Erbil Intl. Airport
Yerevan Zvatnots Intl. Airport
Person of interests:
Chairman of Board Capt.Gh.Ghasemi
Articles/Reports
Flying bombs over Europe! – Mahan Airlines is acting on behalf of Iranian terrorism agenda!
Iran airports report – Revolutionary Guards’ control of Iranian airports
Reason for the color:
» Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 24.01.2019 pursuant to Executive Order 13224 which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism;
» Fars Air Qeshm is an Iranian airline base in Qeshm which is controlled by the designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC);
» A suspicious “civilian” cargo flight, QFZ9950 Qeshm Fars Air Boeing 747, took from Tehran to Damascus;