Air TransportSuspicious Malawi Airline May Be Front for Illegal Airbus Deliveries to Iran
An obscure airline registered in Malawi under the name Rayoni Tourism Airline, also known as Flytech Aviation Group, has drawn attention after purchasing four ex-Thai Airways Airbus A340-600s.
While the aircraft remain stored in China for now, analysts suspect they could eventually be diverted to Iran, potentially to join the fleet of Mahan Air, a carrier long accused of helping Tehran skirt international sanctions.
Two of the aircraft, now painted in plain white liveries and registered as 7Q-YAQ and 7Q-YAP, were recently spotted in China. Their previous owner was Hua An Aviation Parts, a Chinese firm, and all four A340s – formerly registered as 2-STNA, 2-STNB, 2-STNE, and 2-STNF – were previously stored in Taiyuan, China.
Records show that these aircraft briefly passed through Guernsey’s registry in early 2024 before disappearing months later, apparently used only to facilitate their movement from Thailand to China. Now, with their registration in Malawi, analysts suspect the African nation is being used as a convenient flag of convenience to mask the jets’ real destination.
Adding to the skepticism, Flytech’s declared fleet plan—two Embraer ERJ-145s, two Beechcraft 1900s, and four Cessna Caravans, makes no mention of widebody aircraft. The company’s only known operation so far was leasing a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 to Somali carrier Aerojet.
Experts argue that acquiring four A340-600s – massive, fuel-thirsty aircraft long retired by most airlines – makes no business sense for a startup carrier with limited resources and no long-haul network.
Instead, the move fits a pattern Iran has used before: obtaining older Western-built airliners through intermediaries, re-registering them in countries with lax oversight, and then flying them to Iran under false flight plans.
If confirmed, the case would represent yet another attempt by Tehran to circumvent U.S. and EU aviation sanctions, using obscure front companies and shadowy registration changes to replenish its aging long-haul fleet.
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