Iranian overflight

[Jetdriver69]

For those with experience, any problems encountered with an Iranian overflight? Will be from eastern Turkey, across the middle of the country then through Pakistan. Thanks in advance!

 

[X-rated]

For those with experience, any problems encountered with an Iranian overflight? Will be from eastern Turkey, across the middle of the country then through Pakistan. Thanks in advance!

We overfly Iran all the time. It's like flying over California. Just call Iran Defense 5 min prior to the Fir. It's a complete non-event.

 

[2EASYPilot]

Actually, the English is much better that most of the surrounding countries.

 

[FearlessFreep]

There is usually no problem. As X-rated said call "Air Defense" 5 minutes prior to the FIR (10 minutes noted on the chart). Usually they will not respond to you. So on first call up with the regular controllers just ask them to relay to Air Defense. Be aware what your outbound Iranian FIR boundary waypoint is and be prepared to give them an ETA. You will probably have to report crossing a number of waypoints - just for notification, these are usually just internal FIR boundaries where you might change frequencies. In some parts of the country the radios are scratchy with a fair amount of static, but not so much so to be unserviceable.

If you are exiting Eastern Turkey on UP146 you will be very close to Mt. Ararat. It will be just North of track between ARI VOR and AGINA which is the Iranian FIR boundary. It is pretty prominent and easy to distingush. This is supposedly the resting place for Noah's Ark, and there is a fair amount of history in this area.

Exiting Iranian airspace you will have to give a call to Karachi ACC prior to arrival @ the FIR boundary (Chart says 15 minutes prior - good luck with that!)

FYI, keep your overflight clearance numbers available especially if your aircraft does not usually transit these different airspaces.

 

[Jetdriver69]

Thanks for the info!

 

[njcapt]

There is usually no problem. As X-rated said call "Air Defense" 5 minutes prior to the FIR (10 minutes noted on the chart). Usually they will not respond to you. So on first call up with the regular controllers just ask them to relay to Air Defense. Be aware what your outbound Iranian FIR boundary waypoint is and be prepared to give them an ETA. You will probably have to report crossing a number of waypoints - just for notification, these are usually just internal FIR boundaries where you might change frequencies. In some parts of the country the radios are scratchy with a fair amount of static, but not so much so to be unserviceable.

If you are exiting Eastern Turkey on UP146 you will be very close to Mt. Ararat. It will be just North of track between ARI VOR and AGINA which is the Iranian FIR boundary. It is pretty prominent and easy to distingush. This is supposedly the resting place for Noah's Ark, and there is a fair amount of history in this area.

Exiting Iranian airspace you will have to give a call to Karachi ACC prior to arrival @ the FIR boundary (Chart says 15 minutes prior - good luck with that!)

FYI, keep your overflight clearance numbers available especially if your aircraft does not usually transit these different airspaces.

Holy crap. I could have written exactly this, but I was always flying N/S from Siberia to Dubai or the reverse. Iranian controllers were always very professional and used the best King's English, far better than the ex-Soviet or Arab controllers. Pay attention to the FIR boundaries and say Salaam Aleikum when you check on/off and you'll be fine...

... just don't freaking divert to anywhere in Iran in a US registered aircraft. I used to fly over there in a BBJ and I usually briefed that, barring a wing body overheat or SERIOUS fire, we were going to make Dubai or Baku with an emergency. If you have ever been to Baku, Azerbaijan you'll understand how desperately we didn't want to land in Iran.

 

[whymeworry?]

Holy crap. I could have written exactly this, but I was always flying N/S from Siberia to Dubai or the reverse. Iranian controllers were always very professional and used the best King's English, far better than the ex-Soviet or Arab controllers. Pay attention to the FIR boundaries and say Salaam Aleikum when you check on/off and you'll be fine...

... just don't freaking divert to anywhere in Iran in a US registered aircraft. I used to fly over there in a BBJ and I usually briefed that, barring a wing body overheat or SERIOUS fire, we were going to make Dubai or Baku with an emergency. If you have ever been to Baku, Azerbaijan you'll understand how desperately we didn't want to land in Iran.

Not as big a deal as you might think. We have diverted there and I've even flown a few charter trips into Iran at numerous airports. They're nice people. The gov't is what stinks. But they're pretty far removed from the goings on of aviation. We even laid over in Tehran once as we exceeded crew duty limits. As long as you have a good handling agent and respect the customs you shouldn't experience any problems. BTW, one of the things I noticed about landing in Tehran is all the American-built equipment there. C130s, UH1s, Chinooks, B747s, B727s, F-4s, etc. They must get their parts from somewhere outside the US, likely a US-controlled by foreign-based company.

As far as overflight, piece of cake. No issues at all.

 

[AC560]

I've even flown a few charter trips into Iran at numerous airports. .....We even laid over in Tehran once as we exceeded crew duty limits.

I don't know your specific details so this isn't meant as an attack. That being said other readers be very careful from an OFAC point of view what you do in Iran. While they are very nice people we have some exceptionally strict USA legal requirements which can get you into hot water if you are not careful.

Safe journeys all!

 

[GSXR600]

flown over few times no issues what so ever like previous post. do keep your charts out for a contingency plan, and respect the radio calls requirements at FIR crossings,.....you should be fine.

 

[countbat]

Easy flying, nice people, good English. Above posters right on the money. No reasons to worry about.

 

[dontpost2]

Easy flying, nice people, good English. Above posters right on the money. No reasons to worry about.

What Count Bat said!!

 

[Jetdriver69]

Thanks for all the posts. We actually took the shorter route through Russia, the Stans and into Delhi. No trouble at all with the ATC enroute, but the handling, customs, parking, push back etc. was a pain on the ground. Way too much bureaucracy and they won't bend an inch on their rules for efficiency sake. But we gave ourselves plenty of time and it worked out ok. The Imperial hotel downtown was a true 5 star, excellent in every way, but the traffic in town was amazingly bad.