TEHRAN - Iran Air spokesman Hessam Qorbanali has said that the country’s flag carrier Iran Air is planning to increase its active fleet size within the next few months despite difficulties facing the airline because of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Qorbanali said five aircraft will be added to the airline’s active fleet until the end of the Iranian calendar year in late March.
Iran Air’s current active fleet consists of 17 aircraft, including eight Airbus planes, said Qorbanali.
He said that the planned increase in Iran Air fleet size will rely on repairs services offered by Iranian companies as well as on parts supplied from aboard.
“In cooperation with (domestic) technology-based companies, we managed to carry out repairs on several aircraft parts,” the spokesman said in an interview with the ILNA news agency.
Iran Air had placed orders for dozens of new aircraft from international plane manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus after Iran and world powers signed a landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear program in 2015.
However, the supply of the planes were suspended after a handful of deliveries in 2018 and after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal and threatened international companies with sanctions if they engage in transactions with Iran.