Iran plans to buy a total of 80-90 airplanes a year from American planemaker Boeing and its France-based counterpart Airbus in the first phase of renovating its ageing air fleet once sanctions are lifted, IRNA quoted caretaker director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Mohammad Khodakarami as saying on Sunday.
Last month’s nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in Vienna will see banking and trade sanctions on Iran being lifted, perhaps around the end of this year, which would mean a chance to renew a fleet of commercial aircraft whose average age of 27 years is more than twice the international average.
“We will purchase planes from Boeing and Airbus in equal numbers,” the CAO head was quoted as saying.
Iran will finance the purchases through mechanisms including leasing, foreign loans and state funds, he added.
Minister of Roads and Urban development Abbas Akhoundi had said in June at the Paris Air Show that Iran would need a total of 400 aircraft in the next decade to modernize its fleet.
According to Khodakarami, once the new airplanes are purchased, closed to 100 planes will be grounded.
The country’s air fleet currently has 257 planes, of which only about 150 are airworthy. Some planes are awaiting repairs or spare parts to resume flight.
Iran has several private and public airline companies. The oldest is Iran Air, which currently owns 47 planes. Most of the fleet of Iranian airlines today consists of old Boeings and used or leased Airbus and Russian aircraft such as Tupolev.
Besides Iran Air there are 15 other commercial operators (including the Iranian Air Force and the government) in the country according to Planespotters.net. All are presumably included in the long-awaited upgrade scheme.
