Saha Airlines
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Founded | 1990 (as Saha Air Lines) | ||||||
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Hubs | Mehrabad International Airport | ||||||
Fleet size | 5 (+3 orders) | ||||||
Parent company | Iran Air Force | ||||||
Headquarters | Tehran, Iran |
Saha Airlines (Persian: هواپیمایی ساها), is an airline based in Tehran, Iran, it also operates using abbriviated title Saha Air. 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.
Saha was briefly rebranded as Iranian Airlines with a new livery and logo in 2009, this however was only in the case of two Airbus aircraft purchased back then [1], the rest of the fleet's look remained unchanged. No flights were operated under the new name and the aircraft were stored at Tehran in the new paint, for unknown reasons the airline reverted back to their former title and logo soon after while retaining the overall new livery, but have since even removed those from both Airbus aircraft in service, flying them in just the basic livery with a flag [2].
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.
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 and its aircraft also make regular appearances at Shiraz. [citation needed]
Fleet
The Saha Airlines fleet consists the following aircraft (as of November 2011):[3][4]. Saha is the last operator of the 707 is passenger service, the 707s were retired for a while for unknown reasons but are now back in service.
Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Notes |
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Airbus A300B4-605R | 2 | 3 | |
Boeing 707-3J9C | 5 | 0 | 3 stored |
Boeing 747-200F | 2 | 0 | stored |
Total | 9 | 3 |
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
- ^ Saha A300 in background sporting the airlines short lived branding as Iranian Airlines, the other reverted to Saha Airlines title and previous logo on new livery in forground
- ^ Both Saha A300s are now operating minus titles and logos
- ^ Saha Airlines Fleet
- ^ Saha Airlines Fleet
- ^ [1]
- ^ Saha Air Flight 171 crash report
- ^ Saha Air emergency landing