As Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization says it is planning to negotiate with Russia for the purchase of aircraft to upgrade the country’s ageing air fleet, the high number of Russian airplane crashes in recent years has left many questioning their safety and quality.
“The poor performance of Russian planes such as Tupolev has made Iranian airlines lose faith in Russian aircraft,” said secretary of Iran’s Aviation Companies Association, Maghsood Asadi Samani.
Experts believe the lifting of sanctions – imposed by the US, EU and the UN Security Council over Iran’s nuclear energy program – would enable Iranian airlines to consider better alternatives such as the Brazilian Embraer conglomerate which is the third largest manufacturer after Airbus and Boeing.
Also criticizing the move to buy Russian planes, another aviation expert, Alireza Shirzad, says the Russian airplanes Sukhoi Superjet 100, which are actually copies of an Airbus model, have crashed in every single test flight in Indonesia.
He noted that Russian planes are manufactured to function in cold weather, which increases safety risks considering Iran’s relatively warmer climate.
Shirzad added that purchasing planes from top manufacturers would guarantee easier access to spare parts, while the spare parts for Russian planes are not available as easily and cheaply.
