New Iran airline ready for launch

Iran’s media said on Saturday that a new airline will become operational in the country by next April.

The new airline will be called “Tehran Air” and will be equipped with 11 aircraft - four Airbus 340 and seven Airbus 321 planes.    

Mohammad-Ali Ilkhani, the CEO of Tehran Air, has been quoted by the Persian-language news agency Tasnim as saying that the airline’s fleet is aged below 15 years old.

“Airbus 340 planes will be used for long-distance international flights,” Ilkhani said. “Airbus 321 planes will be used for domestic and regional flights,” he added.   

Ilkhani further added that the procedures to launch Tehran Air started about two years ago, adding that the planes have already been purchased over the same period. 

Iran is being coveted by international airlines as the Middle East’s biggest potential aviation market.

Nevertheless, its aviation fleet is believed to be dilapidated and in urgent need of renovation.    

Officials have said that Iran would need between 400-500 new aircraft worth at least $60 billion in the next decade.

They had also told the media that Tehran plans to place major purchase orders with global brands such as Boeing and Airbus.

Reports emerged in the media in early November that several domestic airlines have purchased 13 Boeing 737 aircraft.

The planes were reported to have been purchased by Nasim Air, a new airline based in the central city of Isfahan, Caspian Airlines and Aseman Airlines.    

Other reports say Iran has purchased planes from Russia, as well, but details on the reported purchases are yet to come out.