Kish Airlines (Persian: هواپیمایی کیش, Havâpeymâyi-ye Kiš) is an airline operating from Kish Island, Iran. It operates international, domestic and charter services as a scheduled carrier. Its main bases are Kish International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran.
History
The airline was established on December 16, 1989, and started operations in 1990. It is owned by Kish Free Zone Organisation (79%), Kish Investment and Development (11%) and Kish Development and Servicing (10%).[citation needed]
To start its passenger operations, after receiving temporary operations permission, the airline leased two aircraft (three Tupolev Tu-154 and four McDonnell Douglas MD-82/MD-83) from Bulgaria Airlines on a wet lease. Kish Air received its air operator certificate (AOC) in 1991, thus becoming the first private company to receive its AOC from Civil Aviation of Iran. At this time the company began wet-leasing three Tupolev Tu-154Ms from Russian leasing companies, returning the previously leased Bulgarian aircraft. The company also wet-leased two Yakovlev Yak-42D aircraft from Russia.
Towards the end of 1992, the company was at the verge of bankruptcy, and most of the key managers were replaced.[when?] In 1999, Kish Air having enough financial strength, decided to replace its wet-leased fleet with dry leased and purchased aircraft, and was able to operate two dry leased and two purchased Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft and hire and train the required aircrew and maintenance personnel.
Its Tu-154 fleet was retired between this time.
In February of 2017 Kish Air was bound to receive its E195 fleet.In August of 2017 Kish Air reportedly had a deal for 10 737 MAX aircraft that were never delivered, and also looked to obtain six repossessed A320 aircraft. In July of 2017 Kish Air made plans to fly to Yerevan. In 2018 Kish Air had plans to fly seasonally between Shiraz and Belgrade. In 2018 it also made a return to the Omani city of Muscat. In 2022 the airline returned to Afghanistan serving the city of Kabul.[citation needed] Officials announced that Kish Air was going to be privatized in the first half of 2023 .In March of 2024 Kish Air bought an MD 82 from Kam Air of Afghanistan. In March of 2025 Kish Air began operating flights to Dushanbe. In March of 2026 the airline owner reportedly protested the privatization of the airline.
Destinations
As of September 2023, Kish Air operates services to the following destinations:
In April 2017, it was announced that the airline planned to order six aircraft from ATR, with variant and delivery dates announced if, and when, the deal is signed by the airline. The aircraft were planned to be used to increase the number of flights on domestic flights in Iran.
Former fleet
As of August2025[update], Kish Air operated 2 Airbus A321, 1 Fokker 100, 4 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 and 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83.
The airline also previously operated the following aircraft (at November 2017):
On 19 September 1995, Kish Air Flight 707 was hijacked by flight attendant Reza Jabbari and landed in Israel, where the hijacker was arrested. Jabbari requested asylum and declared his intention of converting to Judaism. Sentenced to eight years in prison, he served four years but was granted asylum and remained in Israel. He eventually became an Israeli citizen and converted to Judaism.
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