Mahan Air (W5, Tehran Mehrabad) is considering entering the African market after it filed an application to begin flights to South Africa The Gulf News has reported.

The Iranian airline is seeking a Scheduled Foreign Operator's Permit (SFOP) from the South African Department of Transport for a planned 2x weekly Tehran Imam Khomeini-Johannesburg O.R. Tambo service. No anticipated launch date has yet been disclosed.

During a state visit to Iran in April this year, South African President Jacob Zuma signed several bilateral accords covering the areas of trade and industry, investment, insurance, money-laundering prevention, agriculture, water resource management, art and culture, and petroleum production.

Mahan Air currently offers scheduled service to diverse destinations across Iran as well as Western Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East, India, China, and Malaysia. According to the ch-aviation fleets database, its entire fleet currently includes fourteen A300-600s, one A300B2, one A300B4, ten A310-300s, four A340-300s, seven A340-600s, four ARJ-100s, four ARJ-85s, one B747-300, one B747-300(M), one BAe 146-200, and eight BAe 146-300s.