Pamir Airways

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. Flight operations were launched in 1995 with an initial fleet of one Boeing 707-300 and two Antonov An-12 aircraft.

In April 2008, Pamir Airways was taken over by a group of Afghan businessmen led by Sherkhan Farnood, the president of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce & Industries and former chairman of Kabul Bank, who subsequently became chairman of the airline. Following the investment, Pamir Airways received a loan for $98 million from Kabul Bank, which was later exposed as one having indescribably poor lending standards (e.g. little to no interest required, no collateral required and repayment essentially optional). 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. As a consequence, the license of the airline was withdrawn, officially due to the poor safety record, on 19 March 2011.

Destinations

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

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

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

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.