A number of Iranian airline companies have started talks to lease second-hand aircraft, reports in the Iranian media show, amid a shortage in the fleet that has come as a result of the American sanctions on the country.
The planes that are targeted for lease deals are nearly new and manufactured in recent years, ISNA reported.
The report said the planes would include both wide-body and small types of aircraft. It did not elaborate on the suppliers and countries that would lease them although it said that the Iranian airlines, which were not identified, would get delivery of the planes once lease agreements are finalized.
Nearly 220 planes are currently servicing Iran’s civilian aviation sector with a senior official saying recently that the average age of the planes were between 19 to 20 years.
Iranian airlines, notably the flag carrier Homa which is known internationally as IranAir, signed agreements in 2016 to get delivery of more than 200 planes from major global suppliers like Airbus, Boeing and ATR.
However, the deals were suspended after the US government pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran and imposed sanctions on the country.
Iran managed to get hold of only 14 planes out of a total of 212 that were supposed to be delivered to the country by the three plane manufacturers, just before the sanctions were enacted in November 2018.
Recent reports suggested that an Iranian airline was getting delivery of three new Airbus planes. There was no indication whether the planes had been bought or leased.