$30 billion needed to refurbish Iran’s aviation fleet

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

An Iranian official has said foreign airlines earn some $3 billion in the country annually.

Ali Reza Jahangirian, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization pointed out the diverse investment opportunities in Iran’s aviation sector and predicted that the country will become the “focal point of flight routes” in the near future, Press TV reported.

He also noted that $30 billion in foreign investment is needed to refurbish the aviation fleet and develop aviation infrastructure.

Iran has already unveiled plans to refurbish its aging aviation fleet. Tehran says it needs up to 500 aircraft to renovate the sector, which has been under strict international sanctions over the years.

Abbas Akhoundi, Iran's minister of roads and urbanization earlier said the country will need 400 new passenger planes in the next 10 years in order to upgrade its civil aviation fleet.

He added that purchasing this number of planes would cost the country at least $ 20 billion.

Iran added several new airplanes to its air fleet, some time ago, but it has suffered heavily from international sanctions over several decades. The United States and its Western allies have imposed sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector over the country’s nuclear program.

Iran’s need for passenger planes has increased as the country expects to see an improvement in its transactions with foreign countries should a final nuclear deal be reached between it and the world powers.

Earlier this year, Iran added 9 new planes less than 10 years old to its aging air fleet.

Iran has 251 commercial planes, many of which are not functional because of a lack of spare parts.

The average fleet age for Iran’s major carriers is 19 years.

Western imposed sanctions have barred Iran from buying western aircraft since the 1970s.

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury has barred Iranian airlines, including Iran Air, from landing or operating in the U.S. Extraterritorial U.S. sanctions prevent European airports from providing Iranian carriers with fuel or accepting their money.

However, a preliminary agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in November 2013 led to an easing of sanctions in the aviation sector. Tehran was allowed the limited purchase of aircraft parts and repairs, but not aircraft.

The U.S.–led sanctions on aircraft and spare parts exports to Iran have left the Iranian airlines saddled with not only some of the oldest fleet in the Middle East, but also in the world.

Iran's four largest carriers - Iran Air, Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air and Iran Air Tours - all have average fleet age above 22 years, according to Iranian media outlets.