Saha Air Boeing 707 Tehran to Kish - world's last 707 pax flights by [AirClips full flight series]
Saha Airlines (
Persian: هواپیمایی ساها), also known as
Saha Air, is an airline based in
Tehran, Iran. The airline has not been active since
2013 although it still exists.
The company was established in
1990 as
Saha Air Lines and was wholly owned by the
Iranian Air Force. It operated domestic passenger services using two Airbus A300s and one
Boeing 707 (a converted tanker), with cargo charters having been carried out with two
Boeing 747 freighters when required. It was the last civil
operator of the Boeing 707.
On 3 May 2013, all flight operations were suspended. In July 2013, the
CEO of Saha Airlines stated in an interview with
ISNA that the company is trying to buy or lease new planes.
The Boeing 707 is a mid-size, long-range, narrow-body four-engine jet airliner built by
Boeing Commercial Airplanes from
1958 to
1979. Its name is commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven".
Versions of the aircraft have a capacity from
140 to 189 passengers and a range of 2,
500 to 5,750 nautical miles (4,630 to 10,650 km).
Developed as Boeing's first jet airliner, the
707 is a swept-wing design with podded engines. Although it was not the first jetliner in service, the 707 was the first to be commercially successful. Dominating passenger air transport in the
1960s and remaining common through the
1970s, the 707 is generally credited with ushering in the
Jet Age. It established Boeing as one of the largest manufacturers of passenger aircraft, and led to the later series of airliners with "7x7" designations. The later 727,
737, and
757 share elements of the 707's fuselage design.
The 707 was developed from the
Boeing 367-80, a prototype jet first flown in 1954. A larger fuselage cross-section and other modifications resulted in the initial production 707-120, powered by
Pratt & Whitney JT3C turbojet engines, which first flew on
December 20,
1957.
Pan American World Airways began regular 707 service on
October 26, 1958.
Later derivatives included the shortened long-range 707-138 and the stretched 707-320, both of which entered service in
1959. A smaller short-range variant, the
720, was introduced in 1960. The 707-420, a version of the stretched 707 with
Rolls-Royce Conway turbofans, debuted in 1960, while
Pratt & Whitney JT3D turbofans debuted on the 707-120B and 707-320B models in
1961 and 1962, respectively.
The 707 has been used on domestic, transcontinental and transatlantic flights, and for cargo and military applications. A convertible passenger-freighter model, the 707-320C, entered service in
1963, and passenger 707s have been modified to freighter configurations.
Military derivatives include the
E-3 Sentry airborne reconnaissance aircraft and the
C-137 Stratoliner VIP transports. Boeing produced and delivered 1,
011 airliners including the smaller 720 series; over 800 military versions were also produced. There were 10 Boeing 707s in commercial service in July 2013.