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Iran Air
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{{Infobox_Airline |
airline=Iran Air|
logo=|
logo_size=|
fleet_size=33|
destinations=20|
IATA=IR|
ICAO=IRA|
callsign= IranAir|
parent=
Iran National Airlines Corporation|
founded=
1962|
headquarters=
Tehran,
Iran|
key_people=
Saeid Hesami (Chairman, CEO)|
hubs=
Mehrabad International Airport|
focus_cities=|
frequent_flyer=|
lounge=|
alliance=|
website=http://www.iranair.com|
}}
image:iranair.b747.arp.750pix.jpg thumb|right|250px|An Iranair Boeing 747-100 lands over the houses at London (Heathrow) Airport
'''Iran Air''' is the national and international
airline of
Iran, based in
Tehran. Its acronym is Homa (هما in
Persian language Persian), formed from the initial letters of the name in Persian, هواپیمایی ملی ایران''Havapeyma'i-ye Melli-ye Iran''. It operates services to 20 scheduled and 5 charter destinations. Its main base is
Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran.
History
Iran Air was established on
February 24,
1962, after Iranian Airways and Persian Air Services joined together under the name of Iran National Airlines Corporation, known as Iran Air. Iranian Airways had been the first Iranian flag carrier and was formed in
1946. Iran Air soon built a large route structure and a dense domestic network. The first planes used by the company were the
Avro York,
Douglas DC-3,
Douglas DC-6 and
Vickers Viscount. The carrier became a full member of
IATA in 1964.
In
1965, the company received its first jet plane,
Boeing 727-100, followed by
Boeing 737-200 in 1971, the stretched
Boeing 727-200 in 1974, and three variants of
Boeing 747 (-100, -200, and the venerable SP) starting in 1975. By mid 70's, Iran Air was serving many major European cities with direct and a few one-stop (mainly with 727 aircraft) flights, and aggressive expansion was now on the agenda of company's management. The prestigious and much-desired route to
New York was first opened with
Boeing 707 aircraft with a stopover at
London Heathrow Airport London Heathrow, but that service was later augumented and eventually replaced by direct flights operated with
Boeing 747 Boeing 747SP, (inaugural flight on May 29, 1975), enabling Iran Air to offer direct service from
Tehran to
New York and allowing the carrier to operate the longest-range non-stop scheduled commercial service in the world at the time, a remarkable feat preceding any other carrier in the region (e.g. Emirates Airlines of
United Arab Emirates) by more than 29 years.
On Oct. 8,
1972, Iran Air placed an order with
British Aircraft Corporation (manufacturing partner of
Aerospatiale) for 2
Concorde supersonic jets plus 1 option. These orders, however, were cancelled in April
1980 (after the
Iranian Revolution Islamic revolution), making Iran Air the very last "foreign" airline to cancel its Concorde orders, leaving
British Airways and
Air France as the only future Concorde operators. In
1978, the airline bought six
Airbus A300-B4 aircraft to be used on its domestic and regional routes. By the end of that year, Iran Air was serving thirty-one international destinations stretching from New York to Beijing (known then as Peking) and Tokyo, and was planning future direct services to Los Angeles and Australia using its long range 747SP and its strategic geographical hub in Tehran, a midway point between East and West. In fact, Iran Air was one of the pioneers in the Middle East in attracting connecting passengers and was already alluring many European travelers with its great service, impeccable safety record, and convenient connections to the Middle and Far East destinations.
By the late 1970's, Iran Air was the fastest growing airline in the world and one of the most profitable. Throughout these times of expansion, Iran Air’s management paid special attention to the safety of operations and made significant efforts to keep the company’s outstanding safety record immaculate. By 1976, Iran Air was ranked second only to
Qantas as the world’s safest airline that had been accident free for at least 10 years (although both airlines were accident free, Iran Air came second only because of fewer operational hours flown compared to Qantas). Prior to this ranking, Iran Air’s last fatal accident occurred 24 years earlier on December 25, 1952, in which 27 of the 29 passengers onboard perished when their
Douglas DC-3 crashed on landing.
With the
Iranian Revolution Islamic revolution of
1979, Iran Air had to halt its services to
New York, as a consequence of the embargo imposed by the
United States. Because of that, the Boeing 747SPs began to be used heavily on the airline's
European and
Asia Asian routes. During the 1990's, Iran Air was able to buy
Fokker Fokker F100 F100s, but, again because of the embargo, this was the only type that joined the fleet during the '90s. In
2001 the airline bought six second-hand
Airbus A310 aircraft (five -200 and one -300), when the United States blocked its purchase of new
Airbus A330 aircraft. In 2005, the carrier bought another 2 ex-
Olympic Airlines Airbus A300-600's.
The airline is wholly owned by the Government of Iran and employs 8,887 staff.
Incidents and accidents
*
December 25,
1952; Iran Air
Douglas DC-3;
Tehran,
Iran: 27 fatalities and 2 survivors
*
January 21,
1980; Iran Air
Boeing 727 Boeing 727-86; near
Tehran,
Iran: The aircraft hit high ground in snowstorm during approach. All eight crew members and 120 passengers were killed.
*On
3 July,
1988,
Iran Air Flight 655 was over the
Persian Gulf on its way to the
Dubai from
Bandar Abbas. The plane flew near the ship ''
USS Vincennes'', a U.S. Navy cruiser equipped with the most sophisticated radar and electronic battle gear. They claimed that the ship mistook the airliner for an Iranian
F-14 Tomcat. When the aircrew failed to respond to a message, the cruiser shot the airliner down with a missile. All 16 crew and 274 passengers were killed. The United States called the incident a tragic mistake.
Newsweek published a long article ( “Sea of Lies�,
July 13,
1992) that largely blamed Capt. Will Rogers, the Vincennes' commander. See
Iran Air Flight 655.
Services
Iran operates the following services (at January
2005):
*Domestic scheduled destinations:
Ahwaz,
Ardabil,
Bandar Abbas,
Bandar Lengeh,
Bushehr,
Chahbahar,
Qeshm,
Isfahan (city) Isfahan,
Kerman,
Kermanshah,
Kish,
Mashhad,
Rasht,
Sari,
Shahre-Kord,
Shiraz International Airport Shiraz,
Tabriz,
Tehran,
Urmia,
Yazd and
Zahedan.
*International scheduled services:
Almaty,
Amsterdam,
Bahrain,
Baku,
Beijing,
Beirut,
Cologne,
Copenhagen,
Damascus,
Dhaka,
Doha,
Dubai,
Frankfurt,
Geneva,
Gothenburg,
Hamburg,
Istanbul,
Jeddah,
Karachi,
Kuala Lumpur,
Kuwait,
London,
Madrid,
Milan,
Moscow,
Mumbai,
Paris,
Rome,
Seoul,
Sharjah,
Stockholm,
Tashkent,
Tokyo and
Vienna.
''See also [http://www.iranair.com/util/img/index.do?imgPath=%5Cfiles%5CabtIrnAir%5Cdownload%5C519_file_en.pdf Timetables]''
Fleet
The Iran Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (at December 2005):
*4
Airbus A300 Airbus A300-600
*4
Airbus A300 Airbus A300B2
*6
Airbus A310 Airbus A310-200
*2
Airbus A310 Airbus A310-300
*1
Airbus A321 Airbus A321-200
*4
Boeing 727 Boeing 727-286
*1
Boeing 747 Boeing 747-186B
*3
Boeing 747 Boeing 747-286B
*1
Boeing 747 Boeing 747SP-86
*11
Fokker F100 Fokker 100
Iran Air is in the process of retiring their 747SP, 747-100B and 747-200B. The 737s and 707s have been already retired in mid 90's.
See also
*
Iranair Tours
*
Aria Tour
*
Iran Aseman Airlines
*
Iranian Air Transport
*
Kish Air
*
Mahan Air
*
Saha Airlines
*
Safiran Airlines
*
Qeshm Air
*
Payam Air
*
Simorgh Airlines
*
Airlines of Iran
External links
-
Iran Air
-
Iran Air Fleet Detail
-
Iran Air Passenger Opinions
Regional Iran Air websites:
-
Iran Air UK - Info for flights to the UK and North America
-
Iran Air Germany - In German and English
-
Iran Air Austria - In German
-
Iran Air Netherlands - In English
-
Iran Air Italy - In Italian
-
Iran Air East Asia - In Japanese and Korean
Historical reviews:
For a complete history of the airline see:
-
The Evolution of the Iranian Airlines Industry, by
Abbas Atrvash.
References
-
Airline Codes website
*
Flight International, 5-11 April 2005
{{commons|Iran Air}}
{{airlistbox}}
Category:Airlines of Iran
de:Iran Air
fa:ایران‌ار
fr:Iran Air
ja:イラン航空
zh:伊朗航空
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