Iran Air Tours

Iran Air Tours
IATA
B9		 ICAO
IRB		 Callsign
AIR TOUR
Founded 1973[1]
Hubs Tehran-Mehrabad
Secondary hubs Mashhad
Focus cities
Airport lounge Iran Air CIP Lounge
Fleet size 10 (+5 orders)
Destinations 16
Parent company Iran Air
Headquarters Tehran, Iran
Key people
  • Ahmad Khalili ( CEO) [2]
  • CAPT.SaeedReza Nasrfard
    (Executive Vice-Chairman)
Website www.iranairtours.com/en

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 is 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.The ICAO code for the carrier is IRB.

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.[3] Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing into early 2010s, the mainline Iran Air continued to use American and Western European-made aircraft,[4] the subsidiary Iran Air Tours operated Soviet-made aircraft, primarily the Tupolev Tu-154M.[3][5] For a brief period, the Yakovlev Yak-42D was also operated.[6] 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.[7] IRB was also to have received several Tupolev Tu-204SM, the much modernized version of the Tupolev Tu-204. As of April 2014, these aircraft have not been delivered due to the United States economic embargo against Iran (see the Tupolev Tu-204 article for further details.

The grounding of Iranian Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft in February 2011, IRB was faced with loss of its primary type. A number of used McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft (primarily the MD-82) were brought online. The latter remains the only type in service as of early 2014.[8]

For a brief period, two Airbus 300 aircraft were also operated but these were transferred to the parent Iran Air.[9]

Destinations

An Iran Airtour McDonnell Douglas MD-82 landing at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran. (2011)
An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154M landing at Mehrabad Airport, Tehran. (2010)

Iran Airtour operates scheduled services to the following destinations:[10]

Hub
Passenger + Cargo
Charter
Terminated route
City Country IATA ICAO Airport Refs
Abadan IranABDOIAAAbadan Airport
Ahwaz IranAWZOIAWAhwaz Airport
Baghdad IraqBGWORBIBaghdad International Airport
Bandar Abbas IranBNDOIKBBandar Abbas Airport
Bushehr IranBUZOIBBBushehr Airport
Chahbahar IranZBROIZCKonarak Airport
Damascus SyriaDAMOSDIDamascus International Airport [Temporarily suspended]
Dezful IranDEFOIADDezful Airport
Dubai United Arab EmiratesDXBOMDBDubai International Airport
Isfahan IranIFNOIFMIsfahan Airport
Kermanshah IranKSHOICCShahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport
Mashhad IranMHDOIMMMashhad International Airport
Rasht IranRASOIGGRasht Airport
Sari Iran SRYOINZDasht-e Naz Airport
Shiraz IranSYZOISSShiraz Airport
Tabriz IranTBZOITTTabriz Airport
Tehran IranIKAOIIE Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA)
Tehran IranTHROIIIMehrabad Airport [Domestic]
Urmia Iran OMHOITRUrmia Airport
Yazd IranAZDOIYYShahid Sadooghi Airport
Zahedan IranZAHOIZHZahedan Airport

Current Fleet

An Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154M at Sheremetyevo International Airport. (2008)

The Iran Air Tours fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of December 2011):[11][12]

Iran Airtour Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
McDonnell Douglas MD-82 10 0 172 172 One aircraft is operated by Ararat International Airlines and

nine aircraft are operated by Bukovyna Airlines[13]

143/147 143/147
Tupolev Tu-204 0 5 TBA 210 Part of the 35 orders made by Iran Air
Total 10 5

Incidents and accidents

[14]

8 February 1993
A Tupolev Tu-154 was departing on a non-scheduled flight from Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran, to Mashhad International Airport when it became involved in a mid-air collision with an Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 fighter plane that was on approach to the same airport. All 12 crew members and 119 passengers on board, plus both pilots of the Su-24, were killed for a total of 133 fatalities.[15]
12 February 2002
Iran Air Tours Flight 956, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashed into the Sefid Kouh mountains during heavy rain, snow and dense fog while descending for Khorramabad Airport. All twelve crew members and 107 passengers were killed.[16]
1 September 2006
A Tupolev Tu-154 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, Iran killing 28 of those on board.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iranairtours.ir/en/component/content/article/97
  2. ↑ http://www.iranairtours.com/component/content/article/174
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.iranairtours.com/en/component/content/article/97
  4. ↑ http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Iran-Air
  5. ↑ http://www.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?query=airframes&where=ifnull%28t.marketing%2Ct.type_id%29%3D3350105+and+a.rowseq%3D100009+and+ifnull%28unused_flag%2C%27%24%27%29%3C%3E%27ntu%27+and+ifnull%28ex_flag%2C%27%24%27%29%3C%3E%27nnb%27+and+ifnull%28to_flag%2C%27%24%27%29+not+in+%28%27to%27%2C%27to%3F%27%2C%27w%2Fo%27%2C%27w%2Fo%3F%27%2C%27hlk%27%2C%27b%2Fu%27%2C%27cvt%27%2C%27pvd%27%2C%27ufo%27%2C%27%40%27%29&orderby=1%20desc,2,3,4,6,7,8&info=Subfleet%3A+Tu-154M+of+Iran+Air+Tours&qstring=Tu-154M+of+Iran+Air+Tours
  6. ↑ w.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?query=airframes&where=ifnull(t.marketing%2Ct.type_id)%3D3325101+and+a.rowseq%3D100009&orderby=1 desc,2,3,4,6,7,8&info=Subfleet%3A+Yak-42D+of+Iran+Air+Tours&qstring=Yak-42D+of+Iran+Air+Tours
  7. ↑ http://www.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?query=airframes&where=ifnull%28t.marketing%2Ct.type_id%29%3D2275101+and+a.rowseq%3D100009&orderby=1%20desc,2,3,4,6,7,8&info=Subfleet%3A+Iran-140_%28An-140%29+of+Iran+Air+Tours&qstring=Iran-140_%28An-140%29+of+Iran+Air+Tours
  8. ↑ http://www.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?query=airframes&where=ifnull%28t.marketing%2Ct.type_id%29%3D3238140+and+a.rowseq%3D100009&orderby=1%20desc,2,3,4,6,7,8&info=Subfleet%3A+DC-9-80_%28MD-80%29+of+Iran+Air+Tours&qstring=DC-9-80_%28MD-80%29+of+Iran+Air+Tours
  9. ↑ http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Iran-Air-Tours
  10. ↑ http://www.iranairtours.ir/SCHD.pdf
  11. ↑ Iran Air Tours Fleet - Ch-Aviation.net
  12. ↑ http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/iran-air-tours-irb/
  13. ↑ "Iran Air Tours". CH-Aviation, December 6, 2010.
  14. ↑ http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=5961
  15. ↑ Aviation Safety Network - 1993 accident
  16. ↑ Aviation Safety Network - 2002 accident
  17. ↑ Aviation Safety Network - 2006 accident
  18. ↑ BBC News - Scores killed in Iran plane blaze 1 September 2006

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iran Airtour.