Iran Air

 

Iran Air, formally Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is the flag carrier airline of Iran. Its main bases are the Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport for international flights and Tehran Mehrabad Airport for domestic flights. It is headquartered on the grounds of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran.

The airline is wholly owned by the Government of Iran. Recent news reports by Press TV claim that the Iranian government plans to privatize Iran Air with its subsidiary carrier Iran Air Tours along with the Homa Hotel Group.

History

"Iranian Airways" was first established in May 1944 by a group of businessmen and commenced its first passenger flight right after the World War II from Tehran to holy city of Mashhad. Within a period of 17 years (1945-1962) this airline developed into a major domestic Route with a few international flights per week. In 1954 another private airline as "Pars Airways" was established. In 1961 both "Iranian Airways" and "Pars Airways" merged to form a new airline as" IranAir" with the acronyms and the symbol of "HOMA" bird and this new airline commenced its activities in April 1962.

By the late 1970s, Iran Air was the fastest growing airline in the world and one of the most profitable. By 1976, Iran Air was ranked second only to Qantas, as the world’s safest airline. In the wake of the Iranian Revolution in February 1979, Iran Air began to reorganize its international operations, discontinuing service to a range of foreign destinations. The year 1981 saw the formal name of the airline changed to "The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran".  In the wake of the growing tension, between the U.S. and Iranian governments, over Iran"s nuclear program, the plan to supply Boeing spare parts or aircraft, to upgrade the aging fleet of Iran Air, was blocked by the USA and members of the EU. However a new agreement between Iran and the United States at the end of 2006 has changed that and allowed an overhaul of Iran Air"s fleet.

Main route

The airline operates services to 60 destinations, 35 international and 25 domestic. The cargo fleet operates services to 20 scheduled and 5 charter destinations. International destinations spread across Asia, Europe, America and Australia.

Fleet

Iran Air operates the following aircraft: 4 Airbus A300B2-200, 4 Airbus A300B4-200, 4 Airbus A300-600R, 2 Airbus A310-200, 6 Airbus A320-200, 3 Boeing 727-200, 1 Boeing 747-100, 3 Boeing 747-200BM, 4 Boeing 747SP and 13 Fokker 100.