Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran continues to take measures to renovate its aging aviation fleet with adding new aircrafts to the fleet.

Iranian airlines have reportedly bought 13 narrow-body Boeing 737 aircraft in their latest move to rebuild the country’s commercial fleet.

Two of the used aircrafts of the 737-400 model, will fly from a European country on Monday night, Fars news agency quoted an informed source as saying without disclosing any names.

The two aircrafts are the first of eight Boeing 737s bought by Nasim Air, a new airline based in the central city of Isfahan, the source said.

Caspian Airlines has purchased three other and Aseman Airlines bought another two of the 150-seat short to medium-range jets.

Meanwhile, a UK-built Avro RJ short-haul airliner, bought by Mahan Air, flew into Iran on October 30, the source added.

The Iranian aviation industry is under international sanctions. West's sanctions have barred Iran from buying western aircraft since the 1970s.

Moreover, the U.S. Treasury has barred Iranian airlines, including Iran Air, from landing or operating in the U.S. Furthermore, extraterritorial U.S. sanctions prevent European airports from providing Iranian carriers with fuel or accepting their money.

However, under an interim nuclear deal in 2013, the West eased the ban on sales of spare parts but selling planes is still prohibited.

A nuclear accord reached with Tehran in July has provided Iran with a chance to renew its fleet of commercial aircraft.

Iran earlier added nine new planes less than 10 years old to its air fleet.

Iranian officials earlier said Iran would need to buy 550 commercial aircraft of various models at a cost of $60 billion.

Iran’s civil aviation fleet consists of 248 aircraft with an average age of 19 years, 100 of which are grounded.

Meanwhile, European air carriers are launching flights to the Islamic Republic. Lufthansa's low-budget subsidiary, Eurowings, will launch flights to Tehran, becoming the latest European carrier to announce service for Iran, the company announced on its official homepage.

The airline will start a weekly service from Cologne-Bonn Airport to the Iranian capital by the end of March 2016 before doubling its weekly flights effective from May 2016.

The route will be operated by an Airbus A330, the company stated.

Lufthansa and its other subsidiary Austrian Airlines has recently announced plans for new flights to Iran amid a growing demand as business and tourism is crawling back to life in the energy-rich country.

Austrian Airlines will be also departing twice a day from Vienna for the Iranian capital, offering one extra daily flight, starting March 11, 2016.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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