- A visit to the cities of Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz flying four different Iranian carriers: Iran Air, Queshm Air, Caspian Airlines and Iran Aseman with their A340-300 (covered in this report)
- Trips to Mashad with Iran Aseman B727, Mahan B747-300, Mahan A300-600 as well as a unique flight with Pouya Air’s An74 (to be covered in part 2)
With sanctions easing, more and more airlines start flying to Tehran again. To get to IKA, the international airport of the Iranian capital, I opted for BA153, the recently relaunched service from Heathrow which is operated by a B777-200 (G-VIID)
The Club World cabin was fairly empty, fortunately the seat next to me remained empty. In general, the load was fairly light, only 140 passengers across all four classes
The cabin was worked by male flight attendants only (I can well imagine that as a woman IKA would not be top of your request list). After take-off dinner was served fairly quickly, following the salmon tatar starter I opted for pasta as main and then laid myself to rest for a few hours.
The block time is only 5:30h but I still felt refreshed when waking up to this view. You gotta love the GE90 engines
Arrival and clearing immigration at IKA was swift (I had obtained my visa in Germany before departure), luggage delivery then took a while however
After exchanging money (I wanted to exchange 200 EUR but they only accepted 100 EUR, this however seems to be total random, other people in my group later told me they were only allowed to exchange 50 EUR), I stepped outside and was welcomed by crisp air and a beautiful morning sun
After negotiating a price with a taxi driver I set off to our hotel in the outskirts of Tehran where we were to meet for a tour of the city. What followed was an almost 2h taxi ride, despite the driver apparently knew where we were going, he ended up taking the wrong exits, turned around and stopped to asked other drivers for directions (even on the motorway). In the end I knew where we had to go and helped him with directions, yet he still kept stopping and asking. When we finally arrived, the group was already ready for departure and I only just made it. Despite we had a bit of disagreement on the price in the end, I don´t have any hard feelings, you get this with taxi drivers in every corner of the world.
After quickly changing clothes, I hoped on-board the minibus for our trip to the city centre
We walked across Tabiat Bridge, an impressive foot bridge opened in 2014 and had contact with locals, some even approached us for selfies. In general young Tehranians are very open and almost westernized, the religious dresscode was only loosely adhered to by women. I even saw a local guy wearing a shirt with an American flag which I found somewhat odd. But this picture intensified during the next few days, not only were we met in a very friendly way but people spoke very open, even when it came to things they thought were going wrong in Iran today.
Next stop was Milad Tower, the 6th tallest tower in the world and open since 2009
Shops like these were seen a lot, the branding reminiscent of western companies but not carrying the same name due to the sanctions
View of Tehran from Milad Tower’s outside viewing platform at a height of 284m
When continued to Azadi Square, the biggest square in Tehran
Azadi Tower, the Freedom Tower, was opened in 1972 o commemorate the Persian Empire
View from Azadi Tower
Need a taxi?
Just your normal Tehran traffic
Getting to know a country does include looking at its culinary options. Our standard fare for the next days would be kebab in different variations, not always as nicely presented as here but usually quite good.
After the city tour we headed to Mehrabad airport from where all domestic flights leave
A quick stop at the entrance to Iran Air’s maintenance facility, unfortunately we didn´t manage to get a tour here
The first flight we were to take would leave from Terminal 2
Gone are the days when Iran Air flew 747
Airport offices of just three of Iran’s more than dozen local airlines
IR314 would be our flight today
To my surprise, there were self-checkin terminals available. However I did not see anyone being able to get these to work, everyone was queuing at the counters for their boarding pass
Airside waiting area. Photography was not allowed so we tried to kee it low key (which is of course difficult when you have a dozen or so people with big cameras and interested in aviation)
THR apron view
Meraj A300-600 (EP-SIF, first operator was Korean in 1996)
The Iranian Government fleet, an A340-300 (EP-AJA which first flew for Air Canada in 1999) and an A321 (EP-AGB which was delivered to Monarch in 2000)
Boarding was on time and despite there are a few jet bridges at THR, all boarding is done by bus
Arriving at our MD82 (UR-BXM) which would take us to IFN. Due to the security personnel outside pictures are a true challenge and during the trip we did encounter scenarios where we had to delete pictures or videos taken.
Cabin view Iran Air MD82)
I settled in seat 23E, fairly at the rear of the cabin which has a 2-3 layout
Iran Air safety card
With a small delay we started taxiing to the runway, however came to a stop shortly after. The cabin crew started running back and forth and we soon joined by the flight deck crew. After some time, the captain came on PA and advised that there was an issue with the rear door and we had to return to the stand for Iran Air maintenance to check.
So we taxied back to the stand, passing this Mahan RJ100 (EP-MON, the former SX-DVC of Aegean)
As well as this Taftan MD82, which had the same history than our plane: built 1988, operated by China Northern, then Bukovyna, then came to Iran
After the maintenance crew had performed their checks, we were eventually given the go-ahead and with a delay of 70mins we taxied to the runway with the sun already setting
I admit I had a bit of a bad feeling initially but in the end there was nothing I had to worry about
The MD82 was not the youngest (built back in 1988) so especially the windows had seen better days
The flight time was under an hour but still Economy passengers received a very decent meal. Comparing this to the 2016 reality when flying in the US or Europe, it felt like a trip to the past.
After landing at IFN, our group stayed on and had a warm exchange with the crew, both cabin and flight deck
There was a small business class section of three rows in a 2-2 layout
The MD82 had an Ukrainian registration, it used to fly for Bukovyna
MD82 cockpit, clocks everywhere
We were then rushed to exit the plane by ground crew (throughout the trip we encountered situations when the flight crew were happy to accommodate us but security personnel or ground staff tried to get in the way)
IFN tower
We took a mini-bus to our hotel, which was the best place we stayed at during the entire tour: Abasi Hotel
Not only the interior was fascinating…
.. but outside the courtyard was a great place to relax and of course take photos
The next morning we started our all-day city tour at the river and one of the famous bridges, the Allahverdi Khan Bridge
There was no water, so we explored the interior of the bridge
We also stopped at Mosalla Mosque, he largest mosque in the world which is under construction since the 1990s
Eventually we headed to THE tourist hot spot in Isfahan, Imam Square
Lotfollah Mosque
The one end of the square is dominated by the Shah Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage site dating back to the 17th century
Some impressions from inside the mosque
No visit to a Persian city would be completed without a visit to the souq
As the sun went down, great photo opportunities arose
Night stop at the bridge again before heading back to the airport
Security checks are conducted right at the entrance already, hence these are separated by gender
The return flight to THR would be operated by Queshm Air
IFN check-in area
Ready for boarding
An Iran Aseman ATR ready to depart to Ahwaz (EP-ATU, one of the few aircraft leased as a brand-new plane back in 2002)
Our Queshm Air Fokker 100 (EP-FQI) built in 1993. Originally our Iran Air flight to IFN was supposed to be a F100 but it got swapped for a MD82. So now we fortunately got the F100 (which I hadn´t logged before) and not the originally planned RJ85
Queshm Air F100 cabin view
Queshm Air inflight magazine and safety card. Their CEO obviously has big plans looking at the aircraft model at his desk
Amazing seat pitch for Economy in the year 2016
View from seat 14A
Queshm Air dinner
Approaching Tehran
The kind crew invited us for a cockpit visit as well and happily signed my flight log
We landed at mid night and headed to the hotel on what would be a really short night
Only 4 hours later, after a 2,5h sleep (or whatever you would call that), we were back at THR, this time at Terminal 4
Having checked in we waited for our departure to Shiraz with Caspian
THR Terminal 4 airside waiting area
Boarding now through gate 4
We were again bussed to the gate and boarded through the forward stairs only
The MD83 (EP-CPZ) was built in 1994
Caspian Airlines MD83 cabin view
View from seat 10A
A nice old car outside
We departed on time and saw the sun rising over Tehran as we climbed out
Caspian Airlines breakfast
Sunrise
Approach into SYZ
Iran Aseman maintenance facilities at SYZ
At our stand, the same ATR we had seen last night in IFN was now parked next to us
Another visit to the cockpit, the crew was in great mood
SYZ terminal, nice setting with the nearby mountains
SYZ terminal from the outside. Shiraz is obviously the gateway for the nearby ancient city of Persopolis
Our first stop at Shiraz was the Pink Mosque, arguably the highlight of any visit to Shiraz when conducted at the right time of the day.
And the morning, when the sun is still low, was the absolute right time as you can see from the following pictures
Later that day we headed to Persepolis to see the remains of the ancient city such as the Gate of All Nations
We also visited the necropolis at nearby Naqsh-e Rustam
Before heading back to Shiraz where we went to the Shah Cheragh Mosque
Shiraz souq
A long day at Shiraz came to an end but we had one highlight remaining: the return flight to Tehran
The flight would be operated by ab A340-300
EP-APA is a former Virgin plane built in 1992 as MSN 2 – it was the second A340 prototype built and is still flying today
The former Upper Class
Iran Aseman has also kept the bar despite the fact that it is – as all Iranian carriers - a dry airline
We received an upgrade and were sat in the old Premium Economy section which was sold as Business Class
Want to make a call to the 1990s?
Departure from SYZ
The dinner service was a regular meal as we already knew from the previous flights
After an uneventful flight we landed at THR and we are able to sneak some more photos of this beautiful aircraft
This concludes part 1 of my Iranian trip report, I hope you enjoyed reading it and look forward to part 2 which should be up in the coming days
In the meantime, feel free to check out some of my other trip reports as well:
2017
Lufthansa A350 Inaugural Flight MUC-HAM-MUC
2016
European Regionals (incl. CS100)
Round the world (Part 3): Arabic A380 Apogee (Etihad Apartment)
Round the world (Part 2): Skipping a day
Round the world (Part 1): a First Class start
Air Berlin across the pond – AB Y+ & C on DUS-MIA-DUS
A South American Teaser – LAN C 787 on FRA-MAD
Testing The Swiss Triple Seven In C FRA-ZRH-GVA
2015
Tudo Bom! - To Brazil In BA First & Club World
Lost In India – BOM-DEL-DOH-DME In AI+QR C
Meeting The Singapore Girls – ZRH-SIN-BOM In SQ C
At Putin’s Show Room - Maks Airshow 2015
New, Newer, Qatar Airways – A350, A380 & B788 In C
Siam Birds - Nokair & Bangkok Airways
2014
Quick Trip Across The Pond To NYC (SN & UA In C)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P3)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P2)
The Kim-Dom Calling-avgeek Heaven North Korea (P1)
Beijing And Back In C: LH A346 Vs. CA B773
A visit To Kingman & Mojave Boneyards With LX & LH
Northwest In Style - FRA-SEA-FRA In LH F (old)
Living The Dream(liner) – LAN FRA-MAD-FRA In Y
2013
Sleep Like An Egyptian:BRU-CAI-BKK-CAI-FRA In MS C
Endangered Species - A Weekend Trip To Russia (P2)
Endangered Species - A Weekend Trip To Russia (P1)
2008
The True Berlin Airport - Last Trip To THF
but i am thinking as Iran has a must see, 
