Pamir Airways was a privately owned airline headquartered in Kabul, Afghanistan, operating scheduled passenger flights out of Kabul International Airport. The company name is derived from the Pamir Mountains and translates "roof of the world".

History

As the first private airline in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, Pamir Airways was issued an Air Operator's Certificate in 1994 by the authorities then in charge of civil aviation in the Islamic State of Afghanistan. An effort was made to re-organize the Pamir assets, including its aging fleet of grounded planes, which could not be sold at high enough prices to reclaim the funds, though.

Destinations

thumb|right|A Pamir Airways [[Boeing 737-200 departs Dubai in 2010.]]

Upon closure, Pamir Airways operated scheduled services to the following destinations:

{|class="sortable wikitable"

|-

! Country

! City

! Airport

! Notes

|-

|rowspan="5"|||Herat||Herat Airfield||align=center|

|-

|Kabul||Kabul International Airport||

|-

|Kandahar||Kandahar Airport||align=center|

|-

|Lashkar Gah||Bost Airport||align=center|

|-

|Mazar-i-Sharif||Mazar-i-Sharif Airport||align=center|

|-

|||Delhi||Indira Gandhi International Airport||align=center|

|-

|rowspan="2"|||Jeddah||King Abdulaziz International Airport||align=center|

|-

|Riyadh||King Khalid International Airport||

|-

|||Dushanbe||Dushanbe Airport||align=center|

|-

|||Dubai||Dubai International Airport||

|-

|}

During the Hajj season, Pamir Airways played a major role in taking Afghan pilgrims to Saudi Arabia (9,000 in 2004 and 15,000 in 2005).

Fleet

thumb|right|A Pamir Airways [[Boeing 737 Classic|Boeing 737-400 shortly after take-off at Dubai International Airport in 2009.]]

Over the years, Pamir Airways operated the following aircraft types:

{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; margin:auto;"

|+ Pamir Airways Fleet

|-

!Aircraft

!Introduced

!Retired

!Notes

|-

|Antonov An-12

|1995

|unknown

|

|-

|Antonov An-24

|unknown

|2010

|

|-

|Boeing 707-320

|1995

|unknown

|One of the first aircraft types operated by the airline

|-

|Boeing 737-200

|2008

|2011

|1 remained in fleet upon closure

|-

|Boeing 737-400

|2009

|2011

|4 remained in fleet upon closure

|-

|McDonnell Douglas DC-10-15

|2005

|unknown

|

|-

|}

Incidents and accidents

  • On 17 May 2010, Pamir Airways Flight 112, an Antonov An-24, crashed into Salang Pass, 100 km north of Kabul, killing all 39 passengers and 5 crew. The plane was en route from Kunduz Airport to Kabul, when it suddenly disappeared from radar.

References

  • Official website