Iran's Civil Aviation Authority recently purchased four Airbus A340 aircraft that formerly flew with Turkish Airlines. Despite international sanctions, the authority confirmed the purchase, which occurred in December.The move comes as the Middle Eastern country's government is reportedly seeking newer aircraft in its fleet due to the aging equipment currently flying. The planes arrived in Tehran last week, according to social media.

Where are the aircraft currently?

The four ex-Turkish Airlines birds were recently registered in Burkina Faso, according to AeroTime. On December 24, 2022, the planes departed for a scheduled flight from South Africa to Uzbekistan but disappeared from flight tracking services over Iran.

Turkish Airlines A340 taking off.
Photo: BAHADIR ARAL AVCI/Shutterstock

Days later, satellite imagery spotted the planes at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.

Turkish Airlines A340.
Photo: Alexey Kartsev/Shutterstock

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Administration of Iran announced on December 29th that the four aircraft had been purchased for use by one of Iran's airlines. With the country successfully acquiring the planes, details have not been shared about how the administration was able to avoid longtime sanctions.

Desperate for newer, younger planes

Iran's civil aviation is reportedly in dire need of new aircraft, according to AeroTime. Since the 1970s, the country has been under international sanctions following the Iranian Revolution and the US Embassy hostage crisis. The penalties were also extended during the war between Iran and Iraq, preventing Iranian airlines from purchasing new aircraft and increasing the difficulty of getting parts for older aircraft.

After a brief period of easing of tensions with the signing of a nuclear deal, the JCPOA, Iran managed to purchase a few Airbus modern aircraft.

However, in May 2018, the United States administration reimposed sanctions on the country. One day before the new sanctions took effect, Franco-Italian aerospace company ATR managed to deliver five aircraft to Iran Air. However, many aviation companies were forced to annul hundreds of aircraft sales to Iran, worth over $30 billion, as a result of the sanctions, according to AeroTime.

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Planes aged more than three decades

Iran has some of the oldest aircraft still flying, such as the A300, which was last developed 15 years ago. Iran Airtour Airlines has an Airbus A300-600 that is 35 years old. The aircraft was delivered to Lufthansa in 1987, sold to Mahan Air in 2009, and joined Iran Airtour in 2020.

Iran Air has two active Airbus A300s. A 28-year-old A300-600R was brand-new to Iran Air in 1994, and a 30-year-old bird was delivered to Olympic Airways two years prior but was acquired by Iran Air in 2005. Meraj Airlines, a privately owned airline, reportedly has one 27-year-old Airbus A300-600R that was delivered to China Northern Airlines in 1995 and then flew for Korean Air and Saha Air. The aircraft Meraj Airlines fleet in 2016.

An Iran Air Airbus A300 taxiing to the runway.
Photo: Bjoern Wylezich | Shutterstock

Qeshm Airlines has a pair of three-decade-old Airbus A300-600Rs that joined its fleet in 2013. Both were delivered to Australia's Compass Airlines in 1991. One jet plane previously flew for China Northwest Airlines, Pacific Airlines, Air Niugini, Regionair, and Onur Air before joining Qeshm Airlines. The other jet flew for China Northwest Airlines, Olympus Airways, and Onur Air prior to Qeshm Airlines.

Due to the current circumstances in Iran, the four Airbus A340s that were recently acquired will likely fly in the country for the next few years, if not decades.

Source: AeroTime