Saeed Chalanderi, the CEO of “Khomeini Airport City,” stated, “For 10 years, 20 scrapped airplanes have been parked in the airport premises. These aircraft should be turned into scrap.” Approximately 60% of Iran’s air fleet is grounded, and its average age is about 20 years older than that of neighboring countries like Iraq.
In an interview with the state-run ILNA news agency, Chalanderi mentioned that airplanes parked near the radar point of Khomeini Airport are causing issues. “We have informed the airlines that if they do not take action to resolve the status of these scrapped airplanes, we will increase the parking fees.”
The CEO did not specify the exact parking costs, but the financial records of the company show that from March 21, 2023, to March 21, 2024, the airport generated approximately 4,180 billion rials (about 7 million dollars) in revenue from aircraft parking services. This marks a 122% increase compared to the 1,870 billion rials earned in the same period the previous year.
60% of Iran’s Air Fleet is Grounded
Ali-Reza Manzari, a former deputy of the Civil Aviation Organization, stated in an interview with the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper in May 2024 that out of the country’s 350 aircraft, only 150 are operational. This means that 60% of the country’s air fleet is grounded.
Manzari further pointed out the outdated condition of Iran’s air fleet, saying, “Sanctions have created an unfavorable situation for the industry and have prevented the import of new aircraft. In the past 35 years, the import of new aircraft has been zero. However, these sanctions have not led to the shutdown of the country’s aviation industry.”
A year before Manzari’s recent interview, in May 2023, Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh, the head of the Civil Aviation Organization, stated in an interview with the Etemad newspaper that out of 330 aircraft in the country’s air fleet, 173 were operational.
These data indicate that in May 2023, approximately half of Iran’s air fleet was grounded, and this number increased by 10 percentage points to 60% in May 2024, according to Manzari’s statements.
Iran’s Air Fleet: 19 Years Older Than the UAE’s
In June 2024, in an interview with the state-run ISNA news agency, Mohammadi-Bakhsh highlighted the achievements of Ebrahim Raisi’s government, stating, “The average age of Iranian aircraft has decreased from 28.5 years at the start of Raisi’s administration to 26 years after nearly three years of the 13th government’s operation.”
The situation is entirely different among Iran’s neighbors. In Iraq, a country that has experienced two major foreign wars and years of internal conflict, the average age of the Iraqi Airways and Fly Baghdad fleets is about eight years.
The average age of the fleets of Pakistani airlines such as PIA, Air Blue, and Serene Air is about 13 years. The average age of Turkish aircraft is eight years, while the average age of the United Arab Emirates’ aircraft is around seven years.
