On December 23, 2022, a suspicious movement caught the public’s attention following online flight tracking platforms when four Airbus A340 planes took off from Africa but eventually diverted over Iran and “disappeared”.
The planes took off one after the other from Johannesburg, South Africa, and flew towards Uzbekistan according to the entered flight plan. However, the four Airbus A340s never arrived at the originally stated destination and it was suspected that they had Iran as their final destination to avoid US sanctions.
Iranian airlines can only obtain new planes through these roundabout ways, as US sanctions prohibit plane manufacturers from selling planes with USmade parts to the Iranian regime. The maneuver demonstrates the circumvention of the sanctions imposed by the United States.
Arrived in Tehran
As aeroTelegraph reports, the planes have actually arrived in Iran. A satellite from Airbus’ Defense Department has captured an image of the four jets at Mehrabad International Airport in the capital, Tehran. The image was reported by the @Gerjon_ Twitter profile, known for monitoring unusual movement in tracking tools and satellite photos.
JUST IN: Visual confirmation that the 4x exTurkish Airlines (red tail and wingtips) Airbus A340300 from 🇿🇦 Johannesburg have arrived at 🇮🇷 Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran.
Sentinel2 images confirm the identification and show they were recently parked here. https://t.co/cMNLyHCuhg pic.twitter.com/eyWVF4JZcW
—Gerjon | חריון | غريون | ኼርዮን (@Gerjon_) December 29, 2022
Originally, the Airbus A340s were owned by Turkish Airlines, which retired them in 2019. They were then purchased by Hong Kongbased Avro Global and parked in South Africa. When they took off in December, the four Airbus A340s already carried the Burkina Faso registrations XTAKA, XTAKB, XTAKK and XTALM. However, since their whereabouts are known, they are expected to receive Iranian markings soon.
For Mahan Air?
After the suspicion was confirmed by the satellite image, Hassan Khoshko, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority, announced on December 29, 2022 that the four aircraft had been acquired to be used by one of the airlines from Iran, but no further details were released .
For the flight to Uzbekistan, the crews entered the flight numbers MAN3808, MAN3809, MAN3810 and MAN3811. The ICAO code used does not exist, but some see it as a reference to future owner Mahan Air, who already operates ten Airbus A340s, all acquired secondhand and in the same manner as those above.
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