Iranian Airlines

Saha Airlines (Persian: هواپیمایی ساها), is an airline based in Tehran, Iran, it also operates using abbreviated title Saha Air, it was rebranded as Iranian Airlines for a short while as well. Saha was established in 1990 as Saha Air Lines and is wholly owned by the Iranian Air Force. The airline operates domestic passenger services with two A300s and two 707s, cargo charters are carried out with the two 747F when required, also pending the aircraft's airworthiness.

The airline is notable for being the very last airline in the world to operate the Boeing 707 in passenger service. These particular aircraft are ex air-to-air tanker 707s, delivered in 1976 and pressed into passenger service due to sanctions by the USA which have stopped Iran acquiring new aircraft since 1979. Airline enthusiasts (including American citizens) make regular pilgrimages to Iran, including actual organised tour groups, to fly on the antique yet well-maintained 707s.

Due to their previous lives as military aircraft, the 707s have spent long periods in storage or only operating sporadic military missions, so for airline transports they have a very low number of hours on their airframes, about 25,000 hours each, meaning they may fly on for some time (the average life of a jet airliner is 100,000 hours). On 20 June 2010, 2 of the 707s were back in full service. The last scheduled passenger flight for the Boeing 707 was on 22 June 2010. After much discussion, 5 Boeing 707s are now back in service, and will remain in service for some time to come.

Rebranding stint

Saha was completely rebranded as Iranian Airlines with a new font, livery and logo in 2009, this however was only applied on to two Airbus A300 aircraft purchased back then.^[1] No flights were operated under the new name and the aircraft were stored at Tehran, for unknown reasons Saha reverted back to their previous name and logo in just a few months, while retaining the overall new livery and putting the aircraft into service. The former logo was modified to be without the light blue roundel in the background, while former titles were applied in the new combination of purple (Saha) and dark pink (Airlines) inline with the Iranian Airlines two tone style, but these too have since been removed from both Airbus, which are now flying in just the basic livery with a flag.^[2]

Destinations

It is very hard to get schedules for Saha Airlines, the only way that would to be possible is to be in Iran, as they do not have a website either. For this reason the list is incomplete, however regular domestic services include daily flights from its base at Tehran Mehrabad Airport to Mashhad, Kish Island, Assalouyeh, Isfahan, Ahwaz and Shiraz.

Fleet

The Saha Airlines fleet consists the following aircraft (as of November 2011):.^[3][4]

In 2009, the airline secured a deal with China Southern Airlines over the purchase of Airbus A300-600R aircraft, this deal was formed in a par with other sales from CZ to Iran. As of April 2010, China Southern has delivered 2 A300s to Saha Airlines, with a further 3 on order. June 22, 2010 was scheduled to be the last passenger flight of the Boeing 707, but since has returned to service.^[5]

Incidents and accidents

• On 20 April 2005, Saha Airlines Flight 171, a Boeing 707-300C, registration EP-SHE, flying from Kish Island, crashed on landing at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran following an unstabilised approach with a higher than recommended airspeed. Gear and/or a tire failed after touchdown and the flight overran the far end of the runway. Of the 12 crew and 157 passengers, 3 passengers were killed.^[6]

• On 3 August 2009, Saha Airlines Flight 124, a Boeing 707-300C, registration EP-SHK, returned to Ahvaz Airport, Ahvaz, Iran for an emergency landing 10 minutes after take-off due to a fault in 1 of the 4 engines. All 176 passengers and crew onboard survived.^[7]

References