AVIATION geeks love Iran Air, but for all the wrong reasons. Decades of sanctions have left Iran's flag-carrier with one of the oldest fleets in the world, featuring museum-vintage aircraft like a 39-year-old Boeing 747SP, the only passenger aircraft of its type still in service. Blocked from ordering Western-built jets for three decades, Iran Air and the country's 15 other carriers have extended the lives of their obsolete planes while scouring the black market for second-hand ones. The results are predictable: 37 crashes of Iranian aircraft since the turn of the century, claiming more than 900 lives.
It was against this sobering backdrop that Tehran hosted the CAPA Iran Aviation Summit in January, the country's first international conference since the lifting of nuclear sanctions this year. Abbas Akhoundi, Iran's transport minister, opened the summit by inviting foreign companies from all countries—except Israel—to assist with the reconstruction of Iran's aviation sector. Within days Airbus had announced an order by Iran Air for 118 new aircraft—a tentative deal sweetened by the European manufacturer's promise...Continue reading
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