Ariana Afghan Airlines Co. Ltd., also known simply as Ariana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Afghanistan. Founded in 1955, Ariana is state owned and the oldest airline in the country. The company has its main base at Kabul International Airport, from which it operates domestic flights and international connections to destinations in China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The carrier is headquartered in Shāre Naw district, Kabul."Contact Us." (Archive) Ariana Afghan Airlines. Retrieved on 30 April 2013. "Ariana Afghan Airlines (Corporate Headquarters) Char-Rahi Shaheed, Shahr-e-Naw, P.O.Box # 76, Kabul, Afghanistan" "P.O. Box 76, Kabul, Afghanistan" Ariana Afghan Airlines has been on the list of air carriers banned in the European Union .

History Early years

The airline was set up on 27 January 1955. It was established as Aryana Airlines with the assistance of Indamer Co. Ltd., which initially held a 49% stake, and the government of Afghanistan owned the balance. At the beginning, services were operated to Bahrain, India, Iran, and Lebanon, with a fleet of three Douglas DC-3s. In 1957, Pan American World Airways became the minor shareholder of the airline when it took over the 49% interest from Indamer. Domestic scheduled services started the same year. By , a fleet of three DC-3s was being used for linking Kabul with Amritsar, Delhi, Jeddah, and Karachi, as well as with some points within Afghanistan, while a single DC-4 operated the Kabul–Kandahar–Tehran–Damascus–Beirut–Ankara–Prague–Frankfurt service, the so-called "Marco Polo" route. In the early 1960s, from US aid to Afghanistan was used to capitalise the company.

By , the airline had 650 employees. At this time, the fleet comprised one Boeing 727-100C, one CV-440, one DC-3 and two Douglas DC-6s that worked on routes serving the Middle East, India, Pakistan, the USSR, and Istanbul, Frankfurt, and London. Domestic services were then operated by Bakhtar Alwatana, which was established by the government in 1967 for this purpose.

The carrier's first widebody aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, entered the fleet in early . By , the aircraft fleet consisted of the DC-10 and two Boeing 727-100Cs. In the mid-1980s, during the Soviet–Afghan War, the carrier was forced to sell the DC-10 to British Caledonian, as the Soviets wanted the carrier to fly the Tupolev Tu-154 as a replacement. In , Ariana was taken over by Bakhtar Afghan Airlines, which became the country's new national airline. In 1986, Bakhtar ordered two Tupolev Tu-154Ms; the airline took possession of these aircraft in . In , Bakhtar was merged back into Ariana, thus creating an airline which could serve both short and long haul routes.

Operational crisis

Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 1996 and the proclamation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the country faced substantial economic sanctions from the international sector during the Taliban regime. The sanctions, along with the Taliban government's control of the company and the grounding of many of the carrier's international flights, had a devastating effect on the economic health of the company through the 1990s. The fleet was reduced to only a handful of Russian and Ukrainian built An-26s, Yakovlev Yak-40s and three Boeing 727s, which were used on the longest domestic routes. In October 1996, Pakistan provided a temporary maintenance and operational base at Karachi. With no overseas assets, by 1999 Ariana's international operations consisted of flights to Dubai only; also, limited cargo flights continued into China's western provinces. However, sanctions imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 1267 in November 1999 forced the airline to suspend overseas operations. In , Ariana was grounded completely.

According to the Los Angeles Times:

According to people interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Viktor Bout's companies helped in running the airline. 

War in Afghanistan Following the overthrow of the Taliban government during Operation Enduring Freedom, Ariana began to rebuild its operations in . About a month later, the UN sanctions were lifted by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1388, permitting the airline to resume international routes again.

In 2002, the government of India gave the carrier a gift of three ex-Air India Airbus A300s. Ariana's first international passenger flight since 1999 landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in , followed by routes to Pakistan and Germany in June and October the same year, respectively. In 2005, India signed an agreement on aviation cooperation with Afghanistan, with Air India training 50 officials for Ariana.

EU ban Due to safety regulations, Ariana was mostly banned from flying into European Union airspace in , with the European Commission allowing the carrier to fly only a single France-registered Airbus A310 into the member states; the ban was extended to the entire fleet in October of that year. The ban was confirmed in subsequent updates of the list released in late 2009 and . In , all Afghanistan-registered aircraft were banned from operating in the European Union. Ariana is still included in the list .

Taliban takeover

All commercial flights were cancelled following the Taliban taking over the capital city of Kabul in August 2021. Domestic flights resumed in September. As of 2026, some international flights to the Middle East and Turkey have resumed.

Destinations , Ariana Afghan Airlines serves domestic, as well as several international destinations in China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Most of these routes operate from Kabul.

Previously, Ariana also served flights to other European countries including to the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. +CountryCityAirportNoteRefAfghanistanHeratKhwaja Abdullah Ansari International AirportKabulKabul International AirportKandaharAhmad Shah Baba International AirportMazar-i-SharifMawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International AirportChinaÜrümqiÜrümqi Tianshan International AirportIndiaDelhiIndira Gandhi International AirportRussiaMoscowAlexander Pushkin Sheremetyevo International AirportSaudi ArabiaJeddahKing Abdulaziz International AirportTurkeyAnkaraAnkara Esenboğa AirportIstanbulIstanbul AirportUnited Arab EmiratesDubaiDubai International Airport

Fleet

Current fleet the Ariana Afghan Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

+ Ariana Afghan Airlines fleetAircraftIn fleetOrdersPassengersNotesCYTotalAirbus A310-3003—12230230Boeing 737-4002—8134142Boeing 737-5001—8148156Total6—

Historical fleet Ariana operated the following equipment all through its history:

Airbus A300B4 Airbus A310-200 Airbus A320-200 Airbus A321-100 Antonov An-12BP Antonov An-12T Antonov An-24 Antonov An-24B Antonov An-24RV Antonov An-26 Antonov An-26B Boeing 707-120B Boeing 707-320C Boeing 720B Boeing 727-100C Boeing 727-200 Boeing 727-200F Boeing 737-300 Boeing 737-800 Boeing 747-200B Boeing 757-200 Convair CV-440 Douglas C-47 Douglas C-47A Douglas C-54B Douglas C-54G Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-6A McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 Tupolev Tu-134 Tupolev Tu-154B Tupolev Tu-154M Yakovlev Yak-40

Accidents and incidents According to Aviation Safety Network, Ariana Afghan Airlines has written off 19 aircraft involved in 13 events, seven of them being deadly. Casualties totaled 154 deaths. The following list includes occurrences that led to at least one fatality, resulted in a write-off of the aircraft involved, or both.

DateLocationAircraftTail numberAircraft damageFatalitiesDescriptionRefsYA-AADW/ODC-4YA-BAGW/O/27Crashed shortly after takeoff from Beirut International Airport, during initial climbout. The aircraft was due to operate the second leg of an international scheduled Frankfurt–Beirut–Tehran–Kandahar–Kabul passenger service as Flight 202. LondonBoeing 727-100CYA-FARW/OCrashed on approach to London Gatwick Airport when attempting to land in dense fog as it descended below the glideslope. Forty-eight people were killed on the plane, as well as two on the ground. The aircraft was completing an international scheduled Kabul–Kandahar–Beirut–Istanbul–Frankfurt–London passenger service as Flight 701. KabulYA-BADW/OGround collision.An-26W/O/25The aircraft was shot down by Pakistani fighters when it was flying a domestic Khost–Kabul passenger service. ZabolAn-26YA-BAKW/O/39Crashed into a hill when attempting to land at Zabol Airport following an in-flight opening of the ramp door. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Kabul–Zaranj passenger service. KabulTu-154MYA-TAPW/O/0Destroyed by a rocket while sitting at Kabul Airport. KabulAn-26YA-BANW/O JalalabadYA-BAOW/O/46The aircraft was completing a domestic scheduled Kabul–Jalalabad passenger service when it apparently ran out of fuel, crashing on approach to Jalalabad Airport. JalalabadYA-KAEW/OCrashed on landing at Jalalabad Airport.YA-FAZW/O/45Crashed in bad weather into mountainous terrain on approach to Kabul Airport. It was completing the last leg of an international non-scheduled Sharjah–Kabul–Kandahar passenger service.  KabulAn-12BYA-DAAW/O/0Destroyed during a U.S. bombing raid.An-12BKYA-DABW/O/0An-24W/O/0An-24BYA-DAHW/O/0An-24RVYA-DAJW/O/0YA-FAUW/O/0Boeing 727-100CYA-FAWW/O/0 IstanbulYA-BADW/OOverran the runway on landing at Istanbul Atatürk Airport. KabulYA-PIBW/OSlid off the runway on landing at Kabul Airport.

See also List of government-owned airlines Transport in Afghanistan

Notes

References

External links

Official website