Iran Air - by M Shams

14 August 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Copenhagen to Teheran and return with an old Boing 747-SP. I would rather to take a hike whole way next time to Teheran rather than flying with Iran Air. Cabins crew didn't care about passenger - when ringing them, they never showed up. If you were lucky, you could catch them when passing you.

Iran Air - by Steve Tan

4 June 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Dubai/Tehran leg on an old Airbus. The flight was full with little room in the overhead bins. Airconditioning was not working while the plane was on tarmac, so had to endure around 30mins of stuffy crowded cabin. Cabin crew handed out ice water upon request. Food was nice. Overall it met expectations (I was not expecting much), given the age of the plane, I was just happy to be landing in one piece. Return leg on emirates was equally cramped but their food was excellent.

Iran Air - by Mohammad Zia Ebrahimi

27 May 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

IKA-ICN business class. Flight attendants were helpful. Very old 747 SP aircraft. Flight was ontime and check-in efficient. Last bag on belt was mine at ICN as a business class passenger.

Iran Air - by M Yalfani

22 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Amsterdam-Tehran-Amsterdam, The flight from Amsterdam was on time with an Airbus 300-600. The cabin crew were friendly, although they avoid smiles as much as possible. The headphone system did not work in my seat. The food was nice. The return flight has 2.5 h delay due to heavy snow, but in general I was satisfied of their service, considering the old plane and other facilities.

Iran Air - by Abbas Asim

12 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Karachi to Tehran, Tehran to Mashhad, and then Tehran to Damascus and Damascus to Tbriz, trbriz to Tehran and from Tehran to Karachi. On international routes, service was quite good, food is hot and good quantity, while the domestic routes the food is not hot nor tasty. Service at airport was good but there is a room for improvement. Cabin staff friendly, helpful. Flights were usually on time, the planes were old Russian on domestic routes that were so uncomfortable.

Iran Air - by George Misioch

10 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Check-in is efficient. Fokker aircraft are ok, while the Russian Tupolev aircraft should be avoided at all cost. The snack provided was standard. The staff was generally friendly. All in all an average airline.

Iran Air - by E Anderson

20 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Heathrow to Tehran return. The plane was elderly but clean, and everything worked. Cabin staff friendly and hard working throughout the flight. Food good and plentiful and drinks were brought when requested. It appeared to me that the senior cabin staff member was a woman, who was professional and businesslike. All staff were approachable and I held a conversation in English with several of them. Behaviour in my section was very good although in another section there were very noisy children. No alcohol on board of course. Check in, and clearance through customs and baggage collection was reasonably quick and straight forward. I had one internal flight to Shiraz which was excellent. The only entertainment on the flights to/from Heathrow was a subtitled film in Farsi, so take a book or i-pod. All in all a good experience. The Iranian people were exceptionally friendly. A fascinating country well worth a visit.

Iran Air - by Derek Bryce

30 April 2006

LHR-THR-SYR and THR-LHR. This airline is doing the best it can with the equipment it has. Elderly (I'm assuming pre 1979) B747-200 in both directions. IR unable to acquire new Boeings due to US trade embargo. Apparently they now operate a new A330 on some routes, so perhaps this old girl is on her way out. The aircraft was clean enough, inside and out, but unavoidably threadbare inside because of her age. Little things like my reading light switch operating that of a seat in front of me, bits of plastic hanging off the arm rest and one of the loos not flushing properly tell me retirement is long overdue. However, all credit to IR maintenance staff for keeping her going as long as she has on this busy route! I'd heard about IR pilots’ legendary landing skills, and can confirm that these were the smoothest I've experienced in 27 years of flying. More up to date equipment used on the short connecting flight down to Shiraz: Fokker 100. Seemed well maintained. In-flight service was fine. Food simple, but plentiful and seemed less processed than on some western carriers. Crew are very hard working. Unlike western crews in economy, they didn't vanish behind a curtain after the meal was served, but constantly responded to individual requests for drinks. Mostly male crew, quite senior and with an air of quiet competence. Attentive, caring but not obsequious which conformed with the approach to service I experienced generally in Iran during my stay. Perhaps it's mandated by the proprieties of public inter gender relations in Iran, but I remember a female crew member asking me if I'd like 'coffee or tea'....no smile, but with an air of seriousness that one might use when making a sincere inquiry about someone's health. Quite charming really! Finally, I'd like to echo the sentiments of a previous user in this forum by confirming that Iran Air are a cost effective means to get to a fascinating, safe, friendly and civilised country.

Iran Air - by F Nikkhah

1 September 2005

I have flown on Iran Air for many years, but our last couple of flights put me off. On one flight, travelling with our little girl of 9 months, there were no nappy changing facilities provided in the toilets. We asked one of the stewards and he said "Is this your first time flying with Iran Air?" (ie what do you expect from us). So we had to change the soiled nappy on the floor of the aircraft, not very pleasant for the other passengers I am sure! The entertainment is next to nil. Iranian movies are shown via old-style projectors and often the headphone sockets dont work. On our flight the entire left hand side did not work (no sound). On a previous flights, although seated in non-smoking, some passengers insisted on smoking. I raised this with the steward and he was reluctant to impose authority and ask the passengers to stop smoking. I had to get up and do it myself, which is what the crew should have done. The aircraft are very old and safety comes to mind. Overall control of passengers by crew is very low. Aircraft is still on the runway after touchdown, and passengers are getting their hand-luggage and standing up, without much intervention by the cabin crew.

Iran Air - by P Garay

7 June 2005

Iran Air has very good inflight catering - the food is good quality, and you have a choice of two entrees, both hot meals. However, there is a fleet of old Boeings which look like they should be retired and grounded soon, and at 30,000 feet you really start to think about things like that. Flight attendants are very friendly, attentive, helpful and courteous, however they are also very casual when it comes to safety. They do not enforce safety rules as rigidly as Western or European carriers do, and when I alerted one of them that someone had been smoking in one of the lavatories (very dangerous - one of the many causes of cabin fires) his answer was a mere, "really?" and that was the end of it. Also, passengers were leaving their personal belongings next to their seats where they were cluttering the aisles, and one had to be careful not to trip over them, and once again the crew members made no attempt to get them to stow their belongings in the overhead bins or underneath their seats. Inflight entertainment is generally a Persian movie with English subtitles, and for those who do not speak or understand Farsi the small and fast-moving subtitles can cause your eye-muscles to work overtime. Another complaint I have is that the flight attendants made no attempt to remind those seated in the non-smoking section to put their cigarettes out, and being an asthma sufferer I had to remind three passengers in my vicinity that they were seated in the non-smoking section. They did have the good grace of putting out their cigarettes, but I did not like being in that position. That was the flight attendants' job, not mine. I would like to end my comments on a positive note however. Iran Air offers you the opportunity to fly for half of what Western carriers would charge you, making travel to the Middle East easy and affordable. It also offers you the opportunity to experience Persian hospitality, which is as old and ancient as Persia (Iran) itself. Crew members are delightfully pleasant and accomodating. Connections between Iran Air and other carriers serving European hubs are generally good, and this particularly benefits expatriate Iranians living in the United States or Canada who wish to fly back to the old country on vacation, with easy connections in Europe. For business travellers destined to other points in the region, Iran Air is a good choice, as it services most major airports in the Gulf and Middle East, as well as some in Central Asia.

Iran Air - by Manuel Kliese

6 March 2005

CGN-HAM-THR at the end of December 2004 and back January 2005. First of all our flight was originally CGN-THR, but due to one or another reason they flew to HAM first, filled up the rather old but clean A310-300 with further passengers and then proceeded to THR. The result was that we arrived 6 hours delayed compared to what was previously planned. At least they called us one day before departure and told about the itinerary change. Furthermore we got a voucher of EUR 15,- each for use in restaurants at CGN due to the delay. Inflight service was nice, food was fine and women did not have to wear the headscarf onboard any more. Also took domestic flight at several occasions when travelling in Iran. THR-IFN, IFN-SYZ, KSH-THR and BND-THR (intermediate stop at IFN) on F100, B727 and A300B4 were fine, on time, good catering. They keep an old fleet that well-maintained and clean.

Iran Air - by A Singer

12 October 2004

Tehran-Esfahan-Tehran on a Fokker. Iran Air are a bit dubious on the ground, but the service was good in the air. There is plenty of leg room and a very relaxed approach to hand- luggage. The pilots line up for final approach at a very low altitude though which is a bit disconcerting.

Iran Air - by Andrew Pavitt

10 October 2004

Flew on Iran air earlier this week from Tehran to Beirut. The flight itself was on time and a reasonable meal was served. But what surprised me is that as soon as the plane landed and whilst still taxing to the gate people were are up getting bags out of the overhead lockers and beginning to queue at the door!. We hadn't even made it off the runway. The flight attendants didn't do or say anything. Surely this is a safety issue!

Iran Air - by R Kalia

22 November 2003

Flew domestic flights on Iran Air (Shiraz-Isfahan, Isfahan-Tehran). They were efficient, punctual and polite, and flights are very cheap. Tehran airport is a mess.

Iran Air - by Maziar Baqali

16 October 2003

Flown the Frankfurt-THR route. In my experience, I have never heard an airline flying to THR cheaper than Iran Air does, and the pilots are obviously very skilled. But there are negative sides to flying Iran Air. First of all, although their Aibus fleet is one of the safest in the world, their other aircrafts (Boeing747(SP),727 and Russian aircraft) are one of the oldest and most dangerous - so my advice, try to avoid these aircraft when flying Iran AIr. Luckily most European flights are with the Airbus fleet. I also know, that the poor shape of their Boeing fleet is not caused by neglect, but the fact that the Iranian government can't buy spare parts for these aircraft from the US (politics and stuff). Also inflght entertainment is almost non-existent (not even in their Business class), especially if you don't like Farsi spoken movies shown on a projector, so bring a book/magazine/walkman or whatever. My advice is to fly Iran Aar if you are sure that they are using an Airbus aircraft, and if you are more concerned about your budget then about stuff like inflight entertainment or alcoholic drinks.

Iran Air - by Georges Godoy

1 September 2003

In my own opinion, the technical state of the fleet is quite poor, but there is not any solution for it since the embargo placed by US doesn't allow the Iranians to improve the technical profile of the planes. Food is standard and inexpensive. I do not remember to have more than two different servings options in all of my flights. a "Tortilla" of potatoes, eggs and soft drink, salad, but nothing extra. Perhaps rice with chicken in the Iranian way, and nothing more. But I have to emphasise and recognise that Iranians are perhaps the most friendly and "ready to do" air crew of the world! They are fantastic. And it happens in all of the flights. Always with a smile, and ready to do their best!

Iran Air - by Sima Mahdavi

13 August 2003

I have used Iran Air for several Asian and Euro destinations as well as many domestic flights. It was always a B747 for international and A300/B727 for domestic flights. The flight attendants are mixture of old ladies and young guys with beard and mustache. Apart from that their service is not bad. There seems to be a clear distinction between flight attendants before and after revolution. The former are very prestigious. Food is great! There is basically no entertainment so don't wait for it. But the flights are comfortable. It is a warm environment and I like it. Airports are like train stations in Europe - if not worse. But it is better than Indian or Pakistani airports anyway! When flying with an Iran Air B747 just remember it is 25 years old! One great advantage of this airline is the cheap domestic flights but apparently that is not going to last long.

Iran Air - by Zaki Abbas

3 May 2003

Iran Air only operates from one city of Pakistan and that is Karachi, where it has flights every Wednesday. The flights are always late, and it has become a routine for frequent flyers, last time I travelled it was 3 hours late! The aircraft used for international routes are old Boeings or Airbus A-300s, and there is almost no onboard entertainment. For domestic travels, Iran Air uses the name of Iran Air Tours The aircrafts used are mostly old Russian aircraft, and almost every time I travel, the trip has been a jerky and turbulent one - specially the landings. Only snacks, like juice, pistachios, and cakes are offered during domestic flights. The airports all over Iran are very simple, but are neat and clean. One thing must be admitted that Iran Air is very cheap - whether travelling international or domestic routes as compared to other countries airlines. All in all, I would suggest travelling Iran Air just for the sake of adventure and fun - if not for anything else.

Iran Air - by Shabab Attarzadeh

13 April 2003

I fly with a majority of Iranian carriers such as Mahan Air, Kish Air and Asseman. Out of them Iran Air still has her prestige in being the countries national carrier. The food onboard is terrific but unfortunately all it lacks is customer service. I don't blame Iran Air for her old fleet as this is due to the sanction by America. My flight from Dubai to Tehran (A310) was one to remember as I had been onboard the same aircraft a year before but with a different livery (former Emirates).

Iran Air - by Farhad Ghiyasiv

18 November 2002

I have flown Iranair Paris to Tehran and back. The airplane was very old (B747) but the economy class seats had more knee room than even some business classes and certainly more than BA and KLM Economy class on long haul flights. The food was also good and plentiful. The onboard entertainment was very poor - a Farsi film shown by way of an old fashioned projector.

Iran Air - by A Sima

04 August 2002

Iran Air, used to be one of the most prestigious Airlines in the Middle East, but now, I think even two Star ranking is a bit of a push, for an airline that has outdated old fleet (lacking customer service), but charges the prices similar to well known airlines like BA and Lufthansa!! The passenger facilities in Tehran Airport are almost non-existence, and no arrangements have been made to make the flight connections easier for passengers trying to make their onward journey within Iran.