Tehran, Iran, June 24
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran plans to ban 20 years old airplanes from flight in the near future.
Head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization Alireza Jahangirian said that Iran is among six countries in the region that have had fatal airplane crashes, Iran's ISNA News Agency reported on June 24.
"Increasing the safety of flights is among the top priorities of Iran Civil Aviation Organization," he said.
"The sanctions imposed on Iran caused a lot of problems for the country's aviation industry, but we are trying our best to renovate and equip the Iranian airlines," he explained.
Jahangirian said earlier this month that the country plans to increase the number of its aircraft up to 500 by Iranian calendar year of 1404 (2025).
"Iran plans to increase four-fold its passenger transfer rate," he said, Iran's ISNA News Agency reported on June 16.
"In that case, the country's passenger transfer rate will reach 100 million people," he said.
Deputy Director of Iran Civil Aviation Organization Hamid Habibi said on June 11 that Iran has added 5 aircraft to its air fleet from the beginning of the current Iranian year (which stated on March 21).
"Iran totally has 251 airplanes," he said, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported.
He went on to note that some other aircraft will be added to the country's air fleet by the end of the current year (March 21, 2015.
Jahangirian said on Dec. 7 that most of Iran's current aircraft would be out of service by Iranian calendar year of 1404 (2025) so the country needs to annually add 30 aircraft to its air fleet.
"That would annually cost at least one billion dollars for Iran's aviation industry," the ISNA News Agency quoted Jahangirian as saying.
The Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said on Sept.11 that the situation of Iran's aviation industry is not satisfactory.
"The country's air fleet is old which raises safety concerns," the Tasnim News Agency quoted Akhoundi as saying.
"The customers are not satisfied with the services the domestic airlines provide," he added.
He went on to note that old airplanes consume more fuel compared to the new ones; therefore the new aircraft are economically justified.
The Managing Director of Iran Airtour Airline Sirous Baheri said on Sept. 1 that over 60 percent of Iran's airplanes are grounded due to technical and logistic issues.
Iranian airlines' air fleet is averagely 22 years old, the ISNA News Agency reported.