Iran plans on spending $20bn to renovate its commercial fleet

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO) deputy chief Mohammad Khodakarami said on Sunday that the nuclear deal lifts the embargo on purchasing hundreds of new commercial jets and spare parts.

Khodakarami said the deal struck in July "stipulates clearly that the ban on buying or leasing planes as well as the transfer of engines or spare parts has been lifted".

The renovation, he added, would require buying Airbus and Boeing planes at a total cost of around $20bn. 

"We must add 80 to 90 planes to our fleet each year in order to have 300 new and operational ones," Khodakarami was quoted as saying.

Iran’s commercial airline, Iran Air, still uses the very first Airbus created, the A300, which has an average age of 27 years and was delivered before the revolution in 1979, according to Planespotters.net, an online database that tracks the country’s fleet.

An embargo dating from 1995 prevented Western manufacturers from selling equipment to Iranian companies, but it was partially lifted by an interim agreement on Iran's nuclear programme in January 2014, allowing Iran to buy spare parts. Purchasing planes, however, remained prohibited.

The Iranian fleet has around 140 aircraft, averaging 20 years old with many in shoddy condition.

In May, Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said that Iranian airlines had obtained 15 used planes since February in an effort to renovate its fleet.

Iranian aviation officials said in April that the country needs 400 to 500 passenger planes over the next decade.