Iran's flag carrier airline, Iran Air, needs at least 50 new jets to become profitable, says Touraj Dehqani Zanganeh, the head of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran.
"Iran has only 10 new airplanes at present … The ministry [of roads and urban development] is unable to solve Iran Air’s problems; policymakers at higher levels should come up with a proper solution for helping the airline overcome obstacles," he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
"A number of brand-new planes were added to IranAir's fleet following the lifting of international sanctions in 2016; this was helpful but unfortunately the delivery of new jets was halted," said Zanganeh, who is also a former CEO of IranAir.
“Iran Air has not made any profit in the past decade,” Alireza Barkhor, the company's chief executive had said earlier.
"A comprehensive decision must be taken to help the airline settle its pile of debts. Our foreign debt amounts to $800 million and we also have 30 trillion rials [$117 million] in domestic debt," he added.
In 2019, Shahram Adamnejad, deputy roads and urban development minister, said IranAir posted an operating profit of 410 billion rials ($1.6 million) in the last Iranian year (March 2018-19).
He also put the operating loss of IranAir at 2,260 billion rials ($8.8 million) for the fiscal 2017-18, stressing that the net profit of the company is still negative.
Operating profit is the remaining income of the company after paying off operating expense and net profit is the remaining income of company after paying all costs incurred by the company, which include expenses, taxes and interests.
The prolonged period of time that IranAir 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.
The imposition of international sanctions over Iran's nuclear program exacerbated the situation for the flag carrier.
However, Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers paved the way for IranAir to renew its aging fleet.
Iran Air signed contracts shortly after the landmark nuclear deal for 80 Boeing jets, 100 Airbus jets and 20+20 ATR turboprops.
An Airbus A321, two Airbus A330s and 13 ATR 72-600 turboprops, five of which were delivered hours before the first reimposition of the first batch of sanctions in August have been delivered to Iran as part of the contracts.
The rest of the orders have been cancelled, as the US revoked previously issued licenses allowing the sales of brand-new airplanes to Iran. This is while selling airplanes to Iran was among the issues directly addressed in the nuclear agreement.
“Iranian airlines have purchased eight secondhand passenger planes,” Zanganeh said recently.
“Eight airplanes have been imported, but they have not received the operational permit of CAO yet ... These planes have been manufactured by western planemakers in 2004-05,” he was quoted as saying by Airlinepress.ir.
“Sixteen more secondhand airplanes will be imported by the end of the current Iranian year [March 20],” he added.
The official noted that private airliners have purchased these airplanes, without elaborating further.
Referring to Iran’s deal with Boeing, ATR and Airbus signed after Iran’s nuclear agreement, Zanganeh said any change in the current conditions is likely to help the aviation industry renew its aged fleet.
