Hi all,

After having been to Iran in November 2014 for the SP sightseeing flight for less than two days, I knew I wanted to return there. As such, I went there again in September 2015. Having had another great experience, my friend Yukihiro and I decided to organize an aviation tour titled “Iranian Skies & Cities,” and in February 2016, our group of ten embarked on another Iran journey.

During the week long trip we had he chance to fly many classic aircraft including the 747-200, 727-200 and A300-B2.

Since there are too many stories and pictures to share, the report is split into several parts.

This is the first part covering the first day including our flight to Tehran from KL and a dinner with Iran Air crew.

Hope you enjoy it!

Best,
Keishi
http://knaviation.net





This is the first part of a megareport about the Iranian Skies & Cities 2016 tour organized by me and YK Aviation. It covers the first day of the tour including spotting in Kuala Lumpur before our departure, the flight from KL to Tehran, and a dinner in Tehran with Iran Air crew members.


Spotting in KL

Since we had time after our arrival from Singapore, Yukihiro, Akiko and I met with one of our friends in KL and went to the runway end to take some photos. At the runway end, we met Nabe-san and Suzuki-san who would be joining the tour.

Nabe-san excited about the upcoming Iran trip.


In about one hour, we were able to capture, among others an Iraq Airways 777-200, Mahan Air A340-300 and Iran Air 747-200. It was especially nice to catch the Iran Air – the aircraft that would be taking us to Tehran later on.

Iraqi Airways Boeing 777-200 arriving from Baghdad.


Iran Air Boeing 747-200 arriving from Tehran. Later, it would take our group to Tehran.


Mahan Air A340-300 arriving from Tehran. Want to try this flight once as well!


See the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL/WMKK) gallery for more photos!


Meeting the group

We arrived at the Iran Air check-in counter at around 10:35. Within a couple of minutes the whole group of 10 assembled. As one of the participants made special T-shirts for the tour, we distributed those, and then nine of us (except for one person that checked-in earlier) proceeded to check-in.

The very nice station manager allowed our group to skip the line and so we were at the counter in no time.

…or should I say behind the counter? Yukihiro picking the best seats available.


Thanks to the Iran Air ground staff at KLIA for being so hospitable and letting us see the seatmap and stand

With boarding passes in our hand, we exited the check-in area, but decided to wait for our crew to arrive to say greet them. They arrived in no time, and it was great seeing Captain Shadmani again – the one that took me to Tehran for the first time back in 2014.

With the crew of our flight including Captain Shadmani – the Captain of my first ever Iran Air flight in 2014, and the check pilot on our flight.


A “see you on board” to the crew and a “good bye” to our KL friend Mr. Ong later, we were on our way through immigration.


To Tehran Onboard the 747-200

After having a quick tea with Yukihiro and Akiko, we headed to our gate where we met with the rest of the group.

Boarding in progress, final call.


After taking photos of our aircraft through the windows, we were one of the last people to board. Once onboard, we asked one of the cabin crew to mention our presence to the cockpit crew.

Our plane – EP-IAI – is almost ready to depart back to its home – Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.


Production data plate. Boeing 747-230B, serial no. 22670.


I was not the only one taking a picture of the plate!


After I settled in my seat next to Yukihiro and Akiko, we received a positive answer – two people could go into the cockpit for take-off. As such, one of our participants – Ryo and I headed upstairs. Ryo settled in the front jump seat, and I stayed in the rear one.

Within a couple of minutes, we pushed back and all four of our GE engines were started up. A short taxi to runway, and we were ready to take off.

V1, rotate! You can watch the video of our take-off below, taken from jumpseat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2b_NjNwYp4

After we took-off and started climbing, we started talking with the crew. Once again, they had stories from Tokyo. Furthermore, the flight engineer explained the flight information sheet to us and gave us blank copies to keep.

The flight engineer explaining us the flight information sheet.


Climbing, crossing 26,000 feet.


A detail of the overhead panel.


The choice for lunch was either chicken or beef. While Akiko and I ordered chicken, Yukihiro decided to go with beef. As you can see below, both of the meals were exactly the same – except for the meat.

My lunch – chicken with rice and some side dishes.


Yukihiro’s lunch – beef with rice. No difference compared to the chicken lunch except for the meat.


We finished the fairly tasty lunch, and then the real “party” started. Talking with the cabin crew. Taking turns to visit the cockpit, taking wingshots, you name it.

Cruising towards Tehran.


One of the pursers – Mr. Mosaferi – spoke really good Japanese! Here he is with me (right) and two of the tour participants.


Three more cabin crew members – all extremely friendly and hospitable.


Another tour participant – Calvin – with two of the cabin crew members.


…among all those group photos, we managed to peak into the business (Homa) class.


And cabin crew once again…


Another group photo – this time me with three participants and three cabin crew members.


…and finally, me with the cabin crew.


After all those group photos, I went to take picture of the galley… It was “photobombed” by one of the friendly pursers!


With that much fun onboard, the flight time passed really fast, and soon another meal was served – this time a fruit plate consisting of an apple and grapes.

Second meal service.


A bit of relax in my seat, and once again – for the third time… Another meal was served. This time, a simple croissant. Impressive! Now at this point, I need to point out that the meals were exactly the same as the last time I flew this flight. However, unless you fly the flight every week, that is not a problem.

Third meal service – a croissant and a Kit-Kat.


Once the third meal was finished, with only a couple of hours left, it was time to roam around the cabin once again. Wingshots, photos of cabin, photos with fellow passengers, you name it. Even though it was a regular flight, it felt like a special enthusiasts flight!

Overview of part of economy class.


Group of Iranian girls on their way back from KL wanted to take a picture… Why not!


We are almost there.


At about 4:15PM Iranian time we started our descend into Imam Khomeini airport, and way too soon – at 4:40PM, we touched down – bringing this awesome flight to an end.

Of course, before disembarking we had to take a group photo. All ten group members plus part of the cabin crew posing in business class.



Dining with Iran Air Crew

Just outside the immigration at Imam Khomeini airport, our driver was waiting for us. We headed straight to Mehrabad Airport hotel.

Part of the group holding the free ice cream we received in the terminal in front of our van.


A quick shower later, we were on our way to Orkideh where we had a dinner with Iran Air crew members scheduled.

Everybody at the table, time to order some food.


…and it’s here. Great kebab!


It was a great evening full of aviation (and other) talk. Besides our group of 10, three Iran Air 747 captains and two first officers participated. Also, I am very thankful that Mr. Mosaferi – the purser from our flight to Tehran – came for the dinner in spite of being very tired after working the flight from KL!

Yukihiro and I with Iran Air 747 fleet manager, Captain Moghadam.


First Officer Hosseinimehr signing photo for Nabe-san.


After the dinner was finished and a group photo taken, the two first officers and Mr. Mosaferi offered to drive us to the hotel instead of having to take the taxi – how nice!

And the whole group to finish off.

Such an awesome and fun TR. I loved it. Great pictures and great Iran Air crew. Thanks so much for sharing  

Really a pleasure to read! It's not every day you get to read a TR on the B742, which happens to be my favorite 747 model. Great pics, too. The service, like the jet, was reminiscent of a bygone era for Y.

KLM11

I remember when Iran Air flew to New York in the 1970s. They had a large ticket office on Madison Avenue. I think the flight was via London or Paris.

Good you went now before they get a new fleet. Certainly an impressive hospitable airline to be flying such old planes. Similar to Venezuela.

Well, this trip report certainly takes the fun out of flying A320's and B737's :b

Wow, what a fantastic experience flying with such a hospitable crew on such a legendary airplane! It really is special seeing aviation enthusiasts being treated so well by the cabin crew and pilots. What a treat to be allowed into the cockpit for takeoff! Amazing! And the complimentary photos of the plane and beautiful flight attendants make for a top-notch trip report! Congratulations and thank you for posting!

Quoting whitelight44 (Reply 1): Such an awesome and fun TR. I loved it. Great pictures and great Iran Air crew. Thanks so much for sharing

You are welcome, glad you enjoyed!

Quoting KLM11 (Reply 2): Really a pleasure to read! It's not every day you get to read a TR on the B742, which happens to be my favorite 747 model. Great pics, too. The service, like the jet, was reminiscent of a bygone era for Y. KLM11

Quoting HOOB747 (Reply 5): Wow, what a fantastic experience flying with such a hospitable crew on such a legendary airplane! It really is special seeing aviation enthusiasts being treated so well by the cabin crew and pilots. What a treat to be allowed into the cockpit for takeoff! Amazing! And the complimentary photos of the plane and beautiful flight attendants make for a top-notch trip report! Congratulations and thank you for posting!

I cannot recommend the flight enough. The Iran Air crew is always extremely hospitable and understanding of aviation enthusiasts. It's also one of the last airlines to let people into the cockpit during flight for the simple reason of loving airplanes.

Quoting lychemsa (Reply 3): I remember when Iran Air flew to New York in the 1970s. They had a large ticket office on Madison Avenue. I think the flight was via London or Paris. Good you went now before they get a new fleet. Certainly an impressive hospitable airline to be flying such old planes. Similar to Venezuela.

Need to go once more before they get a new fleet.   Trying to get the SP on a regular flight (only flown the special sightseeing flight in 2014), but so far it was changed to "-200" four out of four times.

Quoting fallap (Reply 4): Well, this trip report certainly takes the fun out of flying A320's and B737's :b

In Iran, with the inviting crew, even A320s and 737s can be fun.   But yes, nothing beats the classic 747!

Best trip report in a long time! Great to see enthusiasts get a royal treatment and great to see Iran Air and their great crew. Hopefully as the relationships improve with the west it'll open up more and more and even see newer aircraft, though I know it'll be sad letting go of what they've worked very hard to maintain. Before the 'revolution' they had just purchased a bunch of 747s and were pretty much heading toward being Emirates way ahead of its time. Unfortunately they got delayed so hopefully now they can gain more aircraft and grow the company.

Thank you for sharing your experience, really enjoyed reading through! I really like the shirts you have customized - I'm sure Iran Air staff loved seeing these.

Despite of fleet age, cabin looks really clean! They really seem to maintain it well.

I'm seeing the fares KUL-IKA and looks like there isn't much fare difference between cheapest Economy (Class-L) and cheapest Homa Class (Class-I) - MYR 600 (approx. USD 150) one way for the upgrade. That's a bargain!

The part that interests me is access to the cockpit during flight. Whilst I appreciate that this is an Iranian aircraft flying to Iran, it is doing so in International airspace and could theoretically be diverted.

I'm surprised that access to foreign airports isn't dependent on the cockpit door being locked as is the widespread practice in the rest of the World post 911.

It will be interesting, bearing in mind that Airbus have signed up to not only supply new aircraft, but also help with infrastructure, training etc if this policy changes, as I'm sure that anyone sent from Europe to Iran to assist/train staff will push for a closed cockpit door policy.

Wonderful trip report, thanks for sharing!
The crew you had on your flight are by far the most enthusiastic that I've seen in a long time =)

This was such an exciting trip report to read! How wonderful that Iran Air looked after aviation enthusiasts so well. What an amazing experience and thank you for sharing it with us. Can't wait to read the next installments.

Quoting idlewildchild (Reply 7): Best trip report in a long time! Great to see enthusiasts get a royal treatment and great to see Iran Air and their great crew. Hopefully as the relationships improve with the west it'll open up more and more and even see newer aircraft, though I know it'll be sad letting go of what they've worked very hard to maintain. Before the 'revolution' they had just purchased a bunch of 747s and were pretty much heading toward being Emirates way ahead of its time. Unfortunately they got delayed so hopefully now they can gain more aircraft and grow the company.

Thank you very much - it never ceases to amaze me how nicely Iran Air (and other Iranian airlines') crew treats! I hope bright future is coming for Iranian aviation.

Quoting hirofumi (Reply 8): Thank you for sharing your experience, really enjoyed reading through! I really like the shirts you have customized - I'm sure Iran Air staff loved seeing these. Despite of fleet age, cabin looks really clean! They really seem to maintain it well. I'm seeing the fares KUL-IKA and looks like there isn't much fare difference between cheapest Economy (Class-L) and cheapest Homa Class (Class-I) - MYR 600 (approx. USD 150) one way for the upgrade. That's a bargain!

Glad you enjoyed! Those T-shirts were actually made by one of our participants - got both a white and a dark blue one, I love them as well.

The first time I flown the route, I flew it in Homa, but the other two times I decided to go with economy as the service is always the same. Luckily, on my way back I was able to sit in C (with Y service), but that's for a later report.  

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 9): The part that interests me is access to the cockpit during flight. Whilst I appreciate that this is an Iranian aircraft flying to Iran, it is doing so in International airspace and could theoretically be diverted. I'm surprised that access to foreign airports isn't dependent on the cockpit door being locked as is the widespread practice in the rest of the World post 911. It will be interesting, bearing in mind that Airbus have signed up to not only supply new aircraft, but also help with infrastructure, training etc if this policy changes, as I'm sure that anyone sent from Europe to Iran to assist/train staff will push for a closed cockpit door policy.

Unfortunately, I think in the future the access to cockpit might be restricted - as an aviation enthusiast it is really sad to think about it.

Quoting Directorguy (Reply 10): Wonderful trip report, thanks for sharing! The crew you had on your flight are by far the most enthusiastic that I've seen in a long time =)

Yes, it was an amazing crew.   Iranian crews in general are very welcoming and enthusiastic - proved to be the case with pretty much 11 out of 11 flights with Iranian airlines we took during the trip.

Quoting aozora (Reply 11): This was such an exciting trip report to read! How wonderful that Iran Air looked after aviation enthusiasts so well. What an amazing experience and thank you for sharing it with us. Can't wait to read the next installments.

Thanks for the comment, happy you enjoyed the report. Part 2 is out now, and part 3 will be coming out soon!

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 9): The part that interests me is access to the cockpit during flight. Whilst I appreciate that this is an Iranian aircraft flying to Iran, it is doing so in International airspace and could theoretically be diverted. I'm surprised that access to foreign airports isn't dependent on the cockpit door being locked as is the widespread practice in the rest of the World post 911.

What do you mean it could be diverted? Who on the ground would know that the crew allowed a person into the cockpit? As for foreign airport access, again, who would know?

Nice report and pictures, looks like it was a great flight, lots of fun too!

Thanks for taking the time to post, much appreciated.

Best Wishes

ba319-131

Quoting DAL763ER (Reply 13): What do you mean it could be diverted? Who on the ground would know that the crew allowed a person into the cockpit? As for foreign airport access, again, who would know?

Who would know ? its difficult to keep a secret when a plane has 300 or so passengers, especially difficult when one of them posts his visit on A net.

Wow! Thank you! What a fantastic trip and great photos. I just love the idea of getting together a group of a dozen or so enthusiasts - a very manageable size and everyone keen on all aspects of flying. You obviously have some really good camera gear, too. I can see how easily airlines now squeeze in a few more rows with newer slimline seats.
From January, citizens from US visa waiver countries have to have an interview by US officials before they can travel to or transit through the US... Visiting Iran looks great, but with UA requiring 4 paid flights per year on UA metal, unless one does a few inter-Asia sectors, it would be a pain to visit Iran and then have to jump through political/administrative hoops before planning travel to the US.

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 15): Who would know ? its difficult to keep a secret when a plane has 300 or so passengers, especially difficult when one of them posts his visit on A net.

Well, for one, on the 742 the cockpit is on the upper deck so only those people would know that someone's in the cockpit. It's not like any of them can contact the ground to have the flight diverted. By the time the a.net post went up, the flight has already happened. Pre-9/11, people would visit the flight deck all the time. The number of times something went wrong is rather low. It's sad that so many in the west think of terrorism and security first and foremost before allowing one to enjoy their hobby and passion.

Quoting ba319-131 (Reply 14): Nice report and pictures, looks like it was a great flight, lots of fun too! Thanks for taking the time to post, much appreciated.

Thanks as well for reading! Glad you enjoyed.

Quoting trent1000 (Reply 16): Wow! Thank you! What a fantastic trip and great photos. I just love the idea of getting together a group of a dozen or so enthusiasts - a very manageable size and everyone keen on all aspects of flying. You obviously have some really good camera gear, too. I can see how easily airlines now squeeze in a few more rows with newer slimline seats. From January, citizens from US visa waiver countries have to have an interview by US officials before they can travel to or transit through the US... Visiting Iran looks great, but with UA requiring 4 paid flights per year on UA metal, unless one does a few inter-Asia sectors, it would be a pain to visit Iran and then have to jump through political/administrative hoops before planning travel to the US.

Glad you enjoyed! It was indeed a great trip - great aircraft and flights, great sights, great people. It is unfortunate about the US visa issue (in fact, one participant had to cancel because of it). However, both having been through the hassle of arranging a US visa and having been to Iran before, I can say that it is well worth going to Iran at the cost of having to get US visa!

Quoting Bongodog1964 (Reply 15): Who would know ? its difficult to keep a secret when a plane has 300 or so passengers, especially difficult when one of them posts his visit on A net.

Probably shouldn't tell you I was allowed to visit a cockpit in-flight on a major European airline the other day. Should I?   I never done this research, but it would be interesting to know how many incidents/attacks/etc. were caused by a passenger visiting cockpit inflight. I know there was one Aeroflot accident, but compared to how many people used to visit cockpit inflight in the past, my guess would be the number is insignificant. See your point as well though.