Grounded Airbus Plane Returns to Iran’s Fleet

An Iranian private airline has completed repairs on a wide-body Airbus plane to return it to service amid sanctions on the Iranian aviation industry that restrict the country’s access to new jets and spare parts.

A Saturday report by the official IRNA news agency said that the A300-600 had carried out a successful test flight earlier in the day from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. The plane belongs to Qeshm Air, a private Iranian airline that flies to various destinations inside the country and in the region.

The report said that the return of the Airbus plane to service will increase the active capacity of the Iranian aviation fleet by 1,200 seats per day. The plane had been grounded for three years because of US sanctions that restrict Iran’s access to spare parts and repair services.

However, the sanctions have caused Iran to expand its aircraft repair and maintenance program, with recent reports suggesting that Iranian companies have even been offering overhaul and inspection services to foreign airlines.

The IRNA report said that technicians working for domestic companies had carried out some 1,100 engineering tasks to overhaul the A300-600. Qeshm Air announced in early 2023 that it had successfully returned an Airbus A320 to service after 11 years of grounding.

The airline also said in January this year that it had met the airworthiness directive issued by Airbus for the landing gear of one of its Airbus 300-600 planes that had been grounded because of US sanctions

Iranian aviation authorities said in late 2024 that the country had mastered the technology needed to manufacture spare parts for the engines of Boeing and Airbus jets. - Press TV