Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Most of Iran's current aircrafts will be out of service by Iranian calendar year of 1404 (2025) so the county needs to add 30 aircrafts to its air fleet per year, Head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization Alireza Jahangiri said on December 7.
"This would cost at least $1 billion per year for Iran's aviation industry," the ISNA News Agency quoted Jahangiri as saying.
"Although the number of Iran's aircrafts increased to 240 from the previous figure of 140 in the past eight years, the country's air fleet was practically developed by only 20 percent in the mentioned period, as most of them are old," he said.
Iran has imported seven aircrafts, former head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization Hamidreza Pahlevani said on November 10.
"Six other aircrafts will be added to the country's air fleet in the near future," the ISNA News Agency quoted Pahlevani as saying.
"The country has added 24 airbuses to its air fleet from the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), three of them are Airbus 320," he said, adding that around 21 aircrafts were imported to Iran previous year.
Iran plans to increase the number of its aircrafts up to 550 by Iranian calendar year of 1404 (2025), Pahlevani earlier said, adding that the country will certainly achieve the goal if it continues this trend.
The Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said on September 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 costumers 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 aircrafts are economically justified.
The Managing Director of Iran Airtour Airline Sirous Baheri said on September 1 that over 60 percent of Iran's total 220 airplanes are grounded due to technical and logistic issues.
Iranian airlines' air fleet is averagely 22 years old, the ISNA News Agency reported.