MilesDependent
Jun 17, 06, 8:50 am
Boeing 707; Tehran – Mashad; Saha Air
It must be said from the outset that there’s not too many chances to fly on a Boeing 707 these days. In fact, outside of Iran and Military charters, it’s darn near impossible.
Being an aviation enthusiast, and missing the 707 from my log, I decided to head to Iran. Of course, the 707 is just a long list of amazing attractions and things to see and do in Iran. I spent a week there visiting Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.
For the 707, we would fly THR-MHD-THR, i.e., a turn-around at MHD.
I must apologise in advance for the lack of quality photos in this report. You see, taking photos at airports or on board aircraft in Iran is 100% illegal. And to make matters more interesting, there is an armed guard who sits at the front of the plane, facing all the pax, making sure nothing untoward is underway. Plus, there are 4-6 undercover guards sitting amongst the passengers.
17 April 2006
Tehran (THR) – Mashad (MHD)
Saha Air (IRZ) Flight # 164
Depart: 14:30 (Actual: 14:25); Arrive: 16:00 (Actual: 15:39)
Boeing 707-3J9C (EP-SHV)
Ticket cost: About US$15
I arrived into Tehran that morning onboard an Emirates flight from Dubai. All Middle East flights into Tehran use the brand new Imam Khomeiny (IKA) airport which is a ways out of town. All other international and all domestic flights use the run down Mehrabad (THR) airport not far from downtown. The scheduled arrival time for my EK flight was 9:15am, and I was planning on dumping my bags at the hotel before heading to THR for the B707.
Unfortunately, my EK flight was around 50 minutes late, and we then spent over 2 hours waiting for the visa to be approved. So we had to head straight to THR with our bags.
THR airport is a lot like any other airport in a developing country. Crowded, old and dirty. But I’ve seen a lot worse. There are plenty of shops and comfortable seating areas. They even had a left-luggage to store our bags. The one thing I found a little intense was the fact that I was the only foreigner in the airport (my friend is Italian and looked 100% Iranian). Of course, you find the staring in India, China, Japan etc. but I found it worse in Iran.
Check-in is surprisingly efficient. There is one counter for each flight, and it opens 60 minutes before departure. Boarding passes are pre-printed with a sticker assigned. The check-in agent assigned us to the exit row. That’s row 15 if seatguru.com ever wants to add Saha 707s to their list :D
Security is not much worse than the TSA. They x-ray bags and you are then given the pat-down.
There are no air bridges in THR, the waiting area is just a whole lot of shops (selling candies and nuts – everyone in Iran loves nuts). There are, of course, the obligatory photos of Khomeini (1 and 2) prominently displayed. Similar to the photos of Ho Chi Minh you find in Vietnam. There are no boarding announcements in English, but there is a flight display board which has a gate number on it, and that’s in English, so it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on.
Around 30 minutes before departure time, our flight status changes to boarding, so we head out and are taken by bus to the majestic 707. The load today is only around 30 people, around 5 of whom are security personnel.
Here she is:
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/Saha-707.jpg
I was amazed at the spaciousness of the 707. It really was a throw-back to how flying used to be, before they started trying to get as many seats there as possible. When you enter there is a crew rest area at the front of the cabin, which is two rows of seats facing each other (Southwest style) with a table in the middle. At the back of the plane there is the galley and the toilets. But this area is so spacious, it kind of opens up into a lobby. The toilet was twice the size of what you find on a 737.
Here are a few interior photos I snapped during the flights (again, sorry for the bad quality, but you know, I had to be a little discreet).
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran03.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran01.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran02.jpg
Speaking of toilets, that was my first stop, thanks to a case of the Tehran Trots :D Whilst enjoying the spaciousness of the 707 lavs, our captain decided to get things moving, and we started taxiing with me on the throne. Whoops.
I ran back to my seat, not wanting to miss the 707 take-off. I was quite looking forward to seeing the safety demonstration, but my friend told me there wasn’t one lol.
Here are some photos departing Tehran (technically, these are actually landing in Tehran from the MHD-THR flight).
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran04.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran05.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran06.jpg
The catering on this flight was superb. There is a snack box which consisted of a piece of cake, a bag of pistachio nuts, a juice and a chocolate. After the snack, the attendants come around with piping hot tea. 10 out of 10.
Service was not terribly friendly. Saha Air is a ‘subsidiary’ of the Iranian Military, and these 707s are used mostly for chartering army personnel around the country. So, I don’t think customer service is much of a priority.
The scenery from this flight was amazing, flying over majestic mountain landscapes and small towns. Here’s a few photos during the flight, and coming into Mashad.
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran07.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran08.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran09.jpg
The 707 is a fantastic plane to fly. It’s spacious and not really that noisy (from the inside at least). I won't go into detail about the return flight, suffice to say, it was exactly the same, but a lot more crowded. We also flew Iran Air a couple of times while in Iran. A great airline with great service and food.
PS – If you are American and are intending on visiting Iran, you might want to keep away from this street (which is a hot-bed of anti-Americanism)
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran10.jpg
PS2 – If you are used to Starwood properties, be forewarned, that once you get out of Tehran, the best hotels look a little like this:
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran11.jpg
:D It’s all part of the experience!!
It must be said from the outset that there’s not too many chances to fly on a Boeing 707 these days. In fact, outside of Iran and Military charters, it’s darn near impossible.
Being an aviation enthusiast, and missing the 707 from my log, I decided to head to Iran. Of course, the 707 is just a long list of amazing attractions and things to see and do in Iran. I spent a week there visiting Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.
For the 707, we would fly THR-MHD-THR, i.e., a turn-around at MHD.
I must apologise in advance for the lack of quality photos in this report. You see, taking photos at airports or on board aircraft in Iran is 100% illegal. And to make matters more interesting, there is an armed guard who sits at the front of the plane, facing all the pax, making sure nothing untoward is underway. Plus, there are 4-6 undercover guards sitting amongst the passengers.
17 April 2006
Tehran (THR) – Mashad (MHD)
Saha Air (IRZ) Flight # 164
Depart: 14:30 (Actual: 14:25); Arrive: 16:00 (Actual: 15:39)
Boeing 707-3J9C (EP-SHV)
Ticket cost: About US$15
I arrived into Tehran that morning onboard an Emirates flight from Dubai. All Middle East flights into Tehran use the brand new Imam Khomeiny (IKA) airport which is a ways out of town. All other international and all domestic flights use the run down Mehrabad (THR) airport not far from downtown. The scheduled arrival time for my EK flight was 9:15am, and I was planning on dumping my bags at the hotel before heading to THR for the B707.
Unfortunately, my EK flight was around 50 minutes late, and we then spent over 2 hours waiting for the visa to be approved. So we had to head straight to THR with our bags.
THR airport is a lot like any other airport in a developing country. Crowded, old and dirty. But I’ve seen a lot worse. There are plenty of shops and comfortable seating areas. They even had a left-luggage to store our bags. The one thing I found a little intense was the fact that I was the only foreigner in the airport (my friend is Italian and looked 100% Iranian). Of course, you find the staring in India, China, Japan etc. but I found it worse in Iran.
Check-in is surprisingly efficient. There is one counter for each flight, and it opens 60 minutes before departure. Boarding passes are pre-printed with a sticker assigned. The check-in agent assigned us to the exit row. That’s row 15 if seatguru.com ever wants to add Saha 707s to their list :D
Security is not much worse than the TSA. They x-ray bags and you are then given the pat-down.
There are no air bridges in THR, the waiting area is just a whole lot of shops (selling candies and nuts – everyone in Iran loves nuts). There are, of course, the obligatory photos of Khomeini (1 and 2) prominently displayed. Similar to the photos of Ho Chi Minh you find in Vietnam. There are no boarding announcements in English, but there is a flight display board which has a gate number on it, and that’s in English, so it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on.
Around 30 minutes before departure time, our flight status changes to boarding, so we head out and are taken by bus to the majestic 707. The load today is only around 30 people, around 5 of whom are security personnel.
Here she is:
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/Saha-707.jpg
I was amazed at the spaciousness of the 707. It really was a throw-back to how flying used to be, before they started trying to get as many seats there as possible. When you enter there is a crew rest area at the front of the cabin, which is two rows of seats facing each other (Southwest style) with a table in the middle. At the back of the plane there is the galley and the toilets. But this area is so spacious, it kind of opens up into a lobby. The toilet was twice the size of what you find on a 737.
Here are a few interior photos I snapped during the flights (again, sorry for the bad quality, but you know, I had to be a little discreet).
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran03.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran01.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran02.jpg
Speaking of toilets, that was my first stop, thanks to a case of the Tehran Trots :D Whilst enjoying the spaciousness of the 707 lavs, our captain decided to get things moving, and we started taxiing with me on the throne. Whoops.
I ran back to my seat, not wanting to miss the 707 take-off. I was quite looking forward to seeing the safety demonstration, but my friend told me there wasn’t one lol.
Here are some photos departing Tehran (technically, these are actually landing in Tehran from the MHD-THR flight).
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran04.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran05.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran06.jpg
The catering on this flight was superb. There is a snack box which consisted of a piece of cake, a bag of pistachio nuts, a juice and a chocolate. After the snack, the attendants come around with piping hot tea. 10 out of 10.
Service was not terribly friendly. Saha Air is a ‘subsidiary’ of the Iranian Military, and these 707s are used mostly for chartering army personnel around the country. So, I don’t think customer service is much of a priority.
The scenery from this flight was amazing, flying over majestic mountain landscapes and small towns. Here’s a few photos during the flight, and coming into Mashad.
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran07.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran08.jpg
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran09.jpg
The 707 is a fantastic plane to fly. It’s spacious and not really that noisy (from the inside at least). I won't go into detail about the return flight, suffice to say, it was exactly the same, but a lot more crowded. We also flew Iran Air a couple of times while in Iran. A great airline with great service and food.
PS – If you are American and are intending on visiting Iran, you might want to keep away from this street (which is a hot-bed of anti-Americanism)
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran10.jpg
PS2 – If you are used to Starwood properties, be forewarned, that once you get out of Tehran, the best hotels look a little like this:
http://www.hotelcheckpoint.com/temp/iran11.jpg
:D It’s all part of the experience!!