IranAir (Tehran) is the last passenger airline operator of the Boeing 747SP in the world. The flag carrier will offer a final farewell flight over Tehran on November 23. The Jumbo is currently operating between Tehran (Imam Khomeini International Airport) and Kuala Lumpur.
45 Boeing 747SPs (Special Performance) were built between 1974 and 1989 by Boeing. The “Stubby Jumbo” specialized in long, usually thin, routes in the early years.
In other news, IranAir will resume weekly Tehran-Moscow (Sheremetyevo) service on September 23 with Airbus A320s per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 747SP-86 EP-IAC (msn 21093) will operate the last flight. EP-IAC is pictured in the original 1962 markings arriving at Paris (Orly). EP-IAC was delivered new to IranAir on May 27, 1977.
Boeing 747SP Slide Show: 
IranAir:
Sad that the SP’s have come to the end of the road! I’ve many fond memories of the SP’s in the colours of South African Airways, Air Mauritius, Namib Air / Air Namibia, Luxavia, Alliance Air and short-lived Avia coming in to land over our home in Johannesburg as I was growing up…
I believe that IranAir also operated the 747SP longer than any other airline by a wide margin. I believe that I remember seeing them at JFK in 1978 or so. I am not sure which airline would have been the second-longest running operator of the SP but I believe it was Syrian Air.
Yes, IranAir operated it longer than anyone, probably due to the on-going embargoes against Iran. Simply put, they were unable to get long-range replacement aircraft and kept it going longer than anyone. It was certainly a time machine operating today.
For me, my memories are mainly Braniff, Pan Am and United. Thank you.
Bruce