Editing Ariana Afghan Airlines (section)

==History==

===Early years===
[[File:Stamp of Afghanistan - 1965 - Colnect 483160 - Douglas DC 3 and Emblem.jpeg|thumb|left|Postage stamp of Afghanistan from 1965 commemorating the 10th anniversary of Ariana. The logo features an Afghan [[swallow]] bird and a blue field representing precious [[lapis lazuli]] stones; it was personally designed by the then King of Afghanistan, [[Zahir Shah]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.flyariana.com/Corp/history | title=History }}</ref>]]
The airline was set up on 27 January 1955.<ref name="Addendum"/> 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.<ref name="Flight1957"/> At the beginning, services were operated to [[Bahrain]], [[India]], [[Iran]], and [[Lebanon]], with a fleet of three [[Douglas DC-3]]s.<ref name="Flight1957"/> In 1957, [[Pan American World Airways]] became the minor shareholder of the airline when it took over the 49% interest from Indamer.<ref name="Flight1960"/> Domestic scheduled services started the same year.<ref name="Flight1960"/> By {{start date|1960|4}}, a fleet of three [[DC-3]]s 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.<ref name="Flight1960"/> In the early 1960s, {{US$|1100000|1960|round=-6|link=yes}} from [[United States|US]] aid to Afghanistan was used to capitalise the company.<ref name="Flight1960-27"/>

By {{start date|1970|3}}, 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]].<ref name="FI1970-472" /> Domestic services were then operated by ''[[Bakhtar Alwatana]]'', which was established by the government in 1967 for this purpose.<ref name="FI1988-54"/>

[[File:Ariana Afghan Airlines DC-10-30 YA-LAS 1980-8-10.png|thumb|An Ariana Afghan Airlines [[DC-10-30]] on approach to [[London Heathrow Airport]] in 1980. Throughout its history, the airline operated a single aircraft of the type that was sold in the mid-1980s, following the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]].<ref name="USSR forced Ariana DC-10 sale"/>]]
The carrier's first [[widebody aircraft]], a [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30]], entered the fleet in early {{start date|1979|10}}.<ref name="FI1979-1262"/> By {{start date|1985|3}}, the aircraft fleet consisted of the DC-10 and two [[Boeing 727|Boeing 727-100C]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|title=World airline directory – Ariana Afghan Airlines |journal=[[Flight International]] |date=30 March 1985 |page=55 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200915.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111132035/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%200915.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |access-date=18 August 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref> In the mid-1980s, during the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], the carrier was forced to sell the DC-10 to [[British Caledonian]], as the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]s wanted the carrier to fly the [[Tupolev Tu-154]] as a replacement.<ref name="USSR forced Ariana DC-10 sale"/> In {{start date|1985|10}}, Ariana was taken over by [[Bakhtar Afghan Airlines]], which became the country's new [[flag carrier|national airline]].<ref name="FI1988-54"/><ref name="FI1987-5"/> In 1986, ''Bakhtar'' ordered two [[Tupolev Tu-154M]]s;<ref name="FI1986-6"/> the airline took possession of these aircraft in {{start date|1987|4}}.<ref name="FI1987-5"/> In {{start date|1988|2}}, ''Bakhtar'' was merged back into ''Ariana'', thus creating an airline which could serve both short and long haul routes.<ref name="FI1989-58"/>{{additional citation needed|date=August 2012}}

===Operational crisis===
[[File:Ariana Afghan Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M Haafke.jpg|thumb|left|An Ariana Afghan Airlines [[Tupolev Tu-154|Tupolev Tu-154M]] in 1992.]]
Following the [[Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)|fall of Kabul to the Taliban]] in 1996 and the proclamation of the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|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-26]]s, [[Yakovlev Yak-40]]s and three [[Boeing 727]]s, 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;<ref name="U.S. Presses Security Council for Sanctions Against the Taliban" /> 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.<ref name="Ariana: Flying in the face of adversity" /><ref name="India offers planes to Afghan airline" /> In {{start date|2001|11}}, Ariana was grounded completely.<ref name="Afghan airline grounded" />

According to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'':<ref name="Long Before Sept. 11, Bin Laden Aircraft Flew Under the Radar" />
{{quote|With the Taliban's blessing, Bin Laden effectively had hijacked Ariana, the national civilian airline of Afghanistan. For four years, according to former U.S. aides and exiled Afghan officials, Ariana's passenger and charter flights ferried Islamic militants, arms, cash and opium through the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. Members of Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network were provided false Ariana identification that gave them free run of airports in the Middle East.}}

According to people interviewed by the ''Los Angeles Times'', [[Viktor Bout]]'s companies helped in running the airline.<ref>{{cite news|title=On the Trail of a Man Behind Taliban's Air Fleet |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=19 May 2002 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-19-ad-bout-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811010412/http://articles.latimes.com/print/2002/may/19/news/ad-bout |archive-date=11 August 2014 }}&nbsp;</ref>

===21st century===
[[Image:Ariana Afghan Airlines A300B4-200 YA-BAD FRA 2003-5-7.png|thumb|An Ariana Afghan Airlines [[Airbus A300B4-200]] seen on approach to [[Frankfurt Airport]] in 2003. With [[Aircraft registration|registration]] YA-BAD this aircraft was [[written off]] as a result of an overrun episode at [[Istanbul Atatürk Airport]] in {{start date|2007|3}}.<ref name="Ariana A300 overruns while landing at Istanbul Ataturk"/><ref name="Pictures: Ariana A300 skids off Istanbul runway"/>]]
Following the overthrow of the Taliban government during [[Operation Enduring Freedom]], Ariana began to rebuild its operations in {{start date|2001|12}}.<ref name="Afghan airline battles for the skies"/><ref name="Afghan airline returns to the skies"/> About a month later, the UN sanctions were finally lifted, permitting the airline to resume international routes again.<ref name="Expansion under way as Ariana takes A300"/> In 2002, the [[government of India]] gave the carrier a gift of three ex-[[Air India]] [[Airbus A300]]s.<ref name="India offers planes to Afghan airline"/><ref name="India gifts third airbus to Afghanistan"/><ref name="Ariana set to take delivery of first Indian A300"/> Ariana's first international passenger flight since 1999 landed at [[Indira Gandhi International Airport]] in {{start date|2002|1}},<ref name="Ariana resumes operations with New Delhi flight"/> followed by routes to Pakistan and Germany in June and October the same year, respectively.<ref name="Ariana Afghan back on Western Europe route"/><ref name="Routes"/><ref name="Ariana launches Pakistan link"/> In 2005, [[India]] signed an agreement on aviation cooperation with Afghanistan, with Air India training 50 officials for Ariana.<ref name="Indo-Afghan ties touch new high"/>

==== EU ban ====
Due to safety regulations, Ariana was mostly banned from flying into [[European Union]] airspace in {{start date|2006|3}}, with the [[European Commission]] allowing the carrier to fly only a single [[France]]-registered [[Airbus A310]] into the member states;<ref name="Painted Black: a study of the EU unsafe airlines ban" /><ref name="Africa bears brunt of European Union blacklist"/> the ban was extended to the entire fleet in October of that year.<ref name="EC updates blacklist"/> The ban was confirmed in subsequent updates of the list released in late 2009 and {{start date|2010|3}}.<ref name="Other News - 12/01/2009" /><ref name="New EU blacklist features Iran Air, Philippine carriers"/> In {{start date|2010|11}}, all Afghanistan-registered aircraft were banned from operating in the European Union.<ref name="New airlines added to EU blacklist"/><ref name="EC bans Afghan airlines from European airspace"/> Ariana is still included in the list {{as of|2024|12|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|title= The EU Air Safety List|publisher= European Commission|date= 13 December 2024|url= https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/3195fabb-7575-4db9-85b9-ec5a77b481aa_en?filename=air-safety-list-2024-12-13_en.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250107125420/https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/3195fabb-7575-4db9-85b9-ec5a77b481aa_en?filename=air-safety-list-2024-12-13_en.pdf|archive-date= 7 January 2025}}</ref>

==== Taliban takeover ====
All commercial flights were cancelled following the Taliban taking over the capital city of Kabul in August of 2021.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Rasheed|first1=Zaheena|last2=Varshalomidze|first2=Tamila|last3=Gadzo|first3=Mersiha|date=2021-08-16|title=Kabul airport becomes 'crisis point' as Afghans try to flee|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/16/taliban-says-afghanistan-war-over-as-president-diplomats-flee|access-date=2021-08-16}}</ref> Domestic flights resumed in September.<ref name="Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, domestic flights restart">{{cite news |title=Kabul airport reopens to receive aid, domestic flights restart |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kabul-airport-reopens-receive-aid-civilian-flights-operate-soon-qatari-2021-09-04/ |work=Reuters |date=4 September 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210920151409/https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/kabul-airport-reopens-receive-aid-civilian-flights-operate-soon-qatari-2021-09-04/|archive-date= 20 September 2021}}</ref>