Iran Airtour ( fa, ایران ایرتور, ''Iran Airtur'') is an airline based in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. Iran Airtour's hubs are at

Mehrabad International Airport Mehrabad International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین المللی مهرآباد, ''Foroudgâh-e Beyn Almelali-ye Mehrâbâd'') , is an international airport serving Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Prior to the construction of the larger ...

and

Mashhad International Airport Mashhad International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین‌المللی مشهد) is an international airport located in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Overview Mashhad international airport is the Iran's second-busiest airport, behind Te ...

. In total, the group has 11

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

in service. It operates

scheduled A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are i ...

domestic and international passenger service, Iran Airtours is one of IATA members in Iran and has

IATA Operational Safety Audit The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) programme is an internationally recognised and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognised quality audit ...

(IOSA) certificate.

History

Iran Airtour is one of Iran's private airlines, established in 1973 by

Iran Air The National Airline of Iran ( fa, هواپیمايی ملی ایران, Havâpeymâyi-ye Melli-ye Irân), branded as Iran Air, is the flag carrier of Iran, which is headquartered at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2018, it operates scheduled ...

(Persian: هواپیمایی جمهوری اسلامی ایران) with the aim of launching tours to the cities of Iran and different countries in addition to Iran's national airline. From 1982, Iran Airtour Airline started scheduled domestic tours from all over Iran to the holy city of

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

. Two years later, Airline started to develop foreign tours to countries such as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. In addition, it is aimed at developing

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and attracting tourists from other countries by organizing

seminars A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

with the company managers and officials of tourist companies. As a result, the airline was awarded honors from various countries such as

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. Iran Airtour's flight activity as an independent airline started in 1992 in

, which became the operations center of the airline. A direct air link from

to the centers of 13 provinces ensued. Iran Airtour Airline was also responsible for operating 55% of flights from different cities to the Holy City of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

, as well as regional flights with 19 aircraft to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, and

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies ...

. Until 2010, Iran Airtour was one of the

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

airline companies in Iran, but subsequently in accordance with Article 44 of the Constitutional law, ownership was assigned to Hesayar Co., a subsidiary of the Iranian

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. Because four of five consecutive payment checks from Hesayar Co. were returned for insufficient funds, the original assignment was canceled. After another

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

in 2016 the airline was conceded to the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

. In October 2021, Iran Airtours was given permission to fly in European Airspace, Making it the second Iranian Airline to be able to do. this lead the Airline to plan on starting European destination.

Destinations

Iran Airtour, EP-MNN, Airbus A300B4-605R (46913407144)

Iran Airtour, EP-MDC, McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (31422772478)

As of September 2022 Iran Airtour operates scheduled services to the following destinations.

Fleet

As of May 14, 2020 the Iran Airtour fleet consisted of the following aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

As of 1993, Iran AirTour has had three fatal aircraft accidents. * On February 8, 1993, a

Tupolev Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian ...

, Iran Airtour Flight 962, shortly after departure from Tehran International Airport, crashed into a

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 ( NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It wa ...

fighter of the

Iranian Air Force * Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force , patron = , motto = , "Skyhigh is my place" , colours = Ultramarine blue , colours_label = , march ...

which was landing. In this accident all 133 people – both pilots of the Su-24 and Tu-154, all 12 crew members and 119 passengers on board – died. The main cause of this accident was the

fighter pilot's error. * On February 12, 2002, a

, Iran Airtour Flight 956, flying from

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Khorramabad Khorramabad ( fa, خرم‌آباد, Khorramâbâd ), alternatively romanized as Khorramābād, Khoramabad, Khurramabad, Khorram Abad, or Khur Ramābād, is a city and the capital of Lorestan Province, Iran. At the time of the 2016 census, its po ...

, crashed into the Sefid Kooh mountains during heavy rain, snow and dense fog. All 12 crew members and 107 passengers died. * On September 1, 2006, a

, Iran Airtour Flight 945, flying from

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās ( fa, , , ), is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz (just across from Musan ...

, with 11 crew and 137 passengers on board, burst into flames upon landing at

, 28 out of the 148 passengers and crew died.http://www.hormoz.ir/۱۰شهریور-۱۳۸۵-سانحه-برای-توپولف-۱۵۴-بن/

References

# https://www.zoomg.ir/2019/3/27/302707/iran-air-tour-info/ # https://ipo.ir/index.jsp?pageid=1266 # https://iranairtour.ir/destinations # https://iranairtour.ir/fleet # https://www.cannews.aero/بخش-سوانح-حوادث-3/3144-برخورد-توپولف-ا # https://www.airlinepress.ir/46920/بازخوانی-سقوط-توپولف-۱۵۴-ایران-ایرتور-3/ # http://www.hormoz.ir/۱۰شهریور-۱۳۸۵-سانحه-برای-توپولف-۱۵۴-بن/

External links

* {{IATA members, mideast

Iran Airtour Iran Airtour ( fa, ایران ایرتور, ''Iran Airtur'') is an airline based in Tehran, Iran. Iran Airtour's Airline hub, hubs are at Mehrabad International Airport and Mashhad International Airport. In total, the group has 11 aircraft in se ...