Iran Aviation Survives 4 Years of Sanctions without Incident: Official

Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization says the country has successfully weathered four years of brutal US sanctions without suffering a single civil aviation incident. Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh said on Sunday that the Iranian aviation industry had relied on "domestic expertise and the high potentials" of its technicians and engineers to be able to cope with the sanctions.

“Carrying out 6 million flights without incident over nearly four years, despite all shortages, sanctions and problems, is a sign of expertise, capability and high efforts of all those involved in the country’s aviation industry,” said Mohammadi-Bakhsh.

Since coming under US sanctions in 2018, Iran has been barred from importing brand-new planes and spare parts which it needs to upgrade and refurbish its aviation fleet. The country had signed major plane purchase deals with international giants like Boeing and Airbus before Washington imposed sanctions on Iran.

However, the sanctions caused Iran to launch a home-grown plane maintenance and overhaul program to respond to growing demand for travel inside the country. That comes as Iranian companies have been able to carry out maintenance operations on jets received from other countries, including from Russian airliners.

Mohammadi-Bakhsh said the aviation industry in Iran is on its way to growth despite the sanctions. He said Iranian airlines will take delivery of new planes until the end of the calendar year in March to boost their fleet ahead of busy travel seasons.

Also on Sunday, secretary of the Association of Iranian airlines Maghsoud Assadi Samani said a court verdict upheld earlier this month which allowed airfare price liberalization in Iran would help the airlines in the country to create more resources for their plane maintenance programs.

Assadi Samani said Iranian airlines would need to secure some US$500 million to repair a total of 113 grounded planes, adding that the return of the planes to the fleet would lead to a 100% increase in the number of passenger seats in Iran’s aviation sector. - Press TV