16 Facts About Iran Air

Domestically, Iran Air is commonly known as Homa, which is the name of a mythical Persian griffin, and the acronym of Iran National Airlines in the Persian language.

The airline's cargo division, Iran Air Cargo, operates scheduled services internationally using one cargo aircraft.

The last time Iran Air was delivered brand-new Western aircraft prior to the 2016 lifting of nuclear-related sanctions was in 1994 when it received two Airbus A300-B4s in compensation for the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by an American cruiser in 1988.

In 2001, Iran Air purchased six second-hand Airbus A300s from Turkey, but only after two years, all six of them ended up grounded at airports in Tehran, Mashhad and Moscow.

Prolonged period of time that Iran Air was under international sanctions and barred from purchasing spare parts and new planes led to a dramatic rise in its average fleet age and plunging safety record, to the extent where it became widely known as one of the worst airlines in the world in terms of air safety record.

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Any aircraft being delivered to Iran Air must be delivered within a 90 to 180 day period before the sanctions begin.

Iran Air is one of the few airlines in the world that, pursuant to the Sharia, does not serve alcoholic beverages on any of its flights.

Iran Air serves destinations in Iran, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

In January 2016 Iran Air signed an agreement for 118 Airbus aircraft, consisting of several types of the manufacturer's twin-engine aircraft and 12 A380s.

Iran Air intends to use the ATR 72s as part of its strategy to expand its domestic market reach and to provide service to the smaller airports that are located in less populated cities of Iran.

In June 2016, Iran Air officially announced that it was in talks with Boeing for a possible order "close in size to the 118 Airbus aircraft agreement".

On 8 October 1972, Iran Air placed an order with British Aircraft Corporation for two Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic jets plus an option for one, rendering it the last airline to place Concorde orders for commercial use.

However, Iran Air - having had briefly chartered one Concorde jet on flights between Tehran and Paris - cancelled these orders in April 1980.

Iran Air Tours was founded in 1973 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran Air, focusing on charter flights and tourism.

Iranian Airways lost six Douglas DC-3s in crashes and a fire between 1949 and 1959; and one of its Douglas DC-4s was shot down in 1961; while Persian Air Services lost three Avro Yorks in crashes and a maintenance accident between 1955 and 1959.

Since 1962, Iran Air has had more than a dozen aircraft hull losses in crashes and the shooting-down of Iran Air Flight 655; the airline has experienced twenty hijacking incidents on its aircraft.