I'd never have guessed!
Written: Apr 12 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Business Class seat comfortable, good food, friendly service.
Cons: Dry; Tehran airport not easy to navigate; boarding process
The Bottom Line: Comfortable, good service, good food. Much better than expected.
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| vodkaboy's Full Review: Iran Air |
IRAN AIR
I really didn’t know what to expect from a flight on Iran Air. My imagination ran wild with what it might be like on board! A colleague of mine, who has flown with them several times, had told me that they are perfectly comfortable, the service reasonable and I would enjoy the flight. So early in 2003 I got the opportunity and took a flight from Tehran to Almaty, Kazakhstan, in Business Class.
CHECK IN
I was just in transit at Tehran, so didn’t experience the regular check in process. My inbound flight had arrived on time so I had about two hours in transit.
It took a while to find where to check in but, with a little help it was done. Looking around the departures area of Tehran Airport I saw a reasonable sized duty free shop, a very basic cafe (a counter offering coffees and juice served in plastic cups). There were a couple of desks set up with PCs (the Internet Centre!). I heard a couple of people arguing with an airline representative that they wanted to use the business class lounge, and they could not seem to understand that the lounge was located before passport control so they had missed it!
There were few signs if any to help me find the gate that the flight was departing from, and even once I found it, it was confusing. The signs were pointing to a different zone completely and, if someone had not pointed me to the gate just a few feet away, I would have missed it! It seemed that there were two flights using the same gate, and there were people there for both. I would have sworn that it was the wrong gate, so a good thing I had some help!
Once I got to the gate agent I was ushered outside to a long, narrow sloping ramp down to the aircraft parking area. We queued back along the ramp until a bus came and took us to the aircraft.
ON BOARD
The aircraft was an Airbus A310, which from the outside looked clean and in good condition. Inside it was clean, tidy, a little world-worn, it seemed well cared for but it was not hard to guess that it was not new!
A steward greeted us at the door and pointed me to my seat - 1A. He said they were not full so I could choose another seat if I wanted, but I was I was perfectly happy with that.
The seats in Business Class were in the standard 2-2-2 configuration - two seats on each side and two in the middle. The seats were wide and when I settled into mine it was quite comfortable. There was plenty of legroom, and looking behind I could see that there was plenty of room between rows. Later on, when I reclined my seat back, it went back a long way and there was a leg rest that came up so I was very laid back and comfortable.
Before take off I was offered newspapers (all Iranian), juice or water, and an amenity kit. The kit was in an imitation leather, square shaped zip up bag, which looked promising! Inside there was not much - comb, toothbrush and some Iranian perfume or eau de cologne.
There was a short video of some readings from the Koran, then into the safety briefing video. They came round to check that seatbacks were upright, seatbelts fastened etc.
SERVICE
I was pleasantly surprised by the attitude and friendliness of the crew. I really hadn’t known what welcome to expect on Iran Air but within minutes I felt quite at home.
Most of the service was provided by a couple of stewards; there were some stewardesses as well, who were involved with the bar and meal services but otherwise I didn’t see much of them. Their uniforms were rather normal uniforms, with a high neckline, full length sleeves and ankle length skirts.
The steward who provided most of the service spoke reasonable English. He was very pleasant, polite, always smiling. After the meal he came through the cabin regularly, checking if I wanted more to drink. I asked if I could keep the salt and pepper pots from the meal as a souvenir of my first Iran Air flight; he beamed and said of course and asked if I wanted any more from the other trays! I declined of course!
FOOD & DRINK
The flight went from Tehran to Tashkent, which took about three hours, then after forty five minutes on the ground we carried on to Almaty which took another hour and a quarter. There was a full hot meal service on each sector, so nobody could have got off hungry.
The meals were surprisingly good. There was a cold starter, with salad, then a choice of barbecued meats for the main course. They came round with a large plate full of pieces of chicken, lamb or beef, and served it from there directly onto my plate, so I could choose how many pieces I wanted of each, and what vegetables I wanted with it. This was a very nice touch - it’s a long time since I’ve been on a flight where they actually serve the food onto your plate by your seat. Normally it’s brought from the galley already on the plate. After that there was a choice of cakes or pastries for desert, and fruit, followed by tea or coffee.
The meal on the second leg was quicker and simpler but also more than adequate and tasted good, fresh and well prepared.
The bar service was a little more limited as, unsurprisingly, Iran Air are “dry”, ie there is no alcohol served on board. They had a full selection of fruit juices, sodas (even Diet Coke, which is more than some airlines have) and both Arabic and western teas and coffees.
SUMMARY
I must say that Iran Air was much better than I had expected. I don’t know why I expected worse, it was probably unfair. I just imagined a much more basic service and, bearing in mind the sanctions that have been in places for years, I expected the aircraft to be in much worse condition. I wasn’t sure whether there would be any anti-European feeling or attitude. In all cases I was pleasantly surprised. The seat was very comfortable and remained so after five hours - I would have felt pretty comfortable in there for twice as long. The food was plentiful, fresh, tasty and served individually. The crew were warm, cheerful and friendly. I would certainly fly with them again given the chance.
Recommended:
Yes
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vodkaboy
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