Iran Air Tours

Iran Air Tours
IATA ICAO Callsign
B9 IRB IRAN AIR TOUR
Founded 1973[1]
Focus cities
Fleet size 6
Destinations 20
Headquarters Tehran, Iran
Key people
  • Dr Reza Mousavi ( CEO)
  • Mahdi Hamidanpur
    (Chairman-Head of board)
Website iat.aero

Iran Air Tours is an airline based in Tehran, Iran. The airline mainly operates under the English name Iran Airtour (i.e. without the plural "s") as written in Persian (Persian: ایران ایر تور‎). This error is due to confusion between different pluralization rules in English and Persian. Iran Air Tours was established as a subsidiary of Iran Air and operates scheduled domestic services and international services in the Middle East as well as Eastern Europe, as well as charter services.

History

The airline was established in 1973 by Iran Air and started scheduled operations in the early 1990s with services for its domestic tours division. Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing into the early 2010s, Iran Air continued to use American and Western European-made aircraft, while Iran Air Tours operated Soviet-made aircraft, primarily the Tupolev Tu-154M.[2] For a brief period, the Yakovlev Yak-42D was also operated.[3] The airline was the launch customer for Iranian-assembled version of the Ukrainian-designed Antonov 140 turboprop. Due to unpublicized reasons, the carrier did not accept deliveries of the type.[4] Iran Air Tours was also to have received several Tupolev Tu-204SM (the much modernized version of the Tupolev Tu-204) aircraft. As of April 2014, these aircraft had not been delivered due to the United States economic embargo against Iran.

With the February, 2011 grounding of all Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft in Iran, Iran Air Tours was faced with loss of its primary type. A number of used McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft (primarily MD-82s) were brought online. For a brief period in 2006-2007, two Airbus 300 aircraft were operated but these were transferred to the parent Iran Air. Two Airbus A320-200s were also operated for a few months in 2012 and an Airbus A310 joined the fleet the same year. Two Boeing 737 Classics were added to the fleet in 2016.

Destinations

Iran Airtour's McDonnell Douglas MD-80s parked at THE

As of July 2016 Iran Air Tours operates scheduled services to the following destinations:[5]

Country City Airport Notes/Refs
IranAbadanAbadan-Ayatollah Jami International Airport
IranAhwazAhwaz Airport
IranBandar AbbasBandar Abbas International Airport
IranBushehrBushehr Airport
IranChahbaharKonarak Airport
IranDezfulDezful Airport
IranIsfahanIsfahan International Airport
IranKermanshahShahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport
IranMashhadMashhad International AirportHub
IranRashtRasht Airport
IranSanandajSanandaj Airport
IranSariDasht-e Naz Airport
IranShirazShiraz International Airport
IranTabrizTabriz International Airport
IranTehranTehran Imam Khomeini International AirportInternational Hub
Tehran Mehrabad International AirportDomestic Hub
IranUrmiaUrmia Airport
IranYazdShahid Sadooghi Airport
IranZahedanZahedan Airport
IraqBaghdadBaghdad International Airport
United Arab EmiratesDubaiDubai International Airport
TurkeyIstanbulIstanbul Atatürk Airport

Fleet

Current fleet

Iran Air Tours McDonnell Douglas MD-82

As of August 2017 the Iran Air Tours fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[6]

Iran Air Tours Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 1 2 174 To be transferred from Atrak Air
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 4 — 150
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 1 — 155
Total 6 2

Fleet development

In June 2017, it was announced that the airline had signed an MOU with Airbus for an order of 45 A320neo aircraft[7]

In April 2018 airline signed a deal to buy 20 Sukhoi Superjet 100.[8]

Former fleet

A former Iran Air Tours Airbus A300 on approach to land at Dubai International Airport in 2008

Accidents and incidents

As of December 2016, Iran Air Tours has had three fatal aircraft crashes (and another two non-fatal accidents).[9]

8 February 1993
A Tupolev Tu-154M was departing on a non-scheduled flight from Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran, to Mashhad International Airport when it collided in mid air with a Sukhoi Su-24 fighter of the Iranian Air Force that was on approach to the same airport. The collision killed 133 people – both pilots of the Su-24 and all 12 crew members and 119 passengers on board the Tu-154.[10]
12 February 2002
Flight 956, a Tupolev Tu-154M, crashed into the Sefid Kooh mountains during heavy rain, snow and dense fog while descending for Khorramabad Airport. All 12 crew members and 107 passengers were killed.[11]
1 September 2006
A Tupolev Tu-154M, operating as Flight 945 from Bandar Abbas Airport with 11 crew and 137 passengers on board, burst into flames upon landing at Mashhad International Airport in Iran, killing 28 of those on board.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Iran Airtour Airline". iat.aero. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "ATDB.aero aerotransport.org AeroTransport Data Bank". aerotransport.org. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  3. ↑ retrieved 11 August 2014
  4. ↑ "ATDB.aero aerotransport.org AeroTransport Data Bank". aerotransport.org. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Iran Air Tours Domestic Flights". iat.aero. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  6. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2017 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2017): 17. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ↑ https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/57045-iran-airtour-airline-inks-mou-for-forty-five-a320neo
  8. ↑ Dudley, Dominic. "Iran Agrees $2B Deal For Russian Passenger Jets, Amid Ongoing Delays For Airbus And Boeing Planes". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  9. ↑ "Aviation Safety Network Aviation Safety Database: Iran Air Tours". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154M EP-ITD Tehran-Mehrabad Airport (THR)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154M EP-MBS Sarab-e Do Rah". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154M EP-MCF Mashhad Airport (MHD)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  13. ↑ BBC News - Scores killed in Iran plane blaze 1 September 2006

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