Does Buying Second-Hand Aircraft Help Iran's Civil Aviation?

With the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, it has become clear that the possibility of purchasing new aircraft, apart from buying them from Chinese or Russian manufacturers, has diminished. This article raises the question of whether buying second-hand aircraft could help Iran's aviation industry under the current circumstances. Currently, it seems that purchasing from Boeing has become completely off the table. There is little hope left for buying new aircraft from Airbus. Other companies like Bombardier, Embraer, and Mitsubishi, due to their close ties with American companies, also seem unlikely to sell aircraft to Iran. This leaves Chinese or Russian companies like Sukhoi, which also need to replace a large number of American parts in their aircraft with models made in China or Russia, a factor that could be very risky. In this situation, some experts believe that purchasing second-hand aircraft with low usage and under ten years old might help Iran's aging aviation industry. Some say that with the cost of three new Airbuses, Iran Air could buy up to twelve second-hand Airbuses with low age, and Iranian airlines could quickly secure their essential parts. Ali-Asghar Monzari, a former representative of Iran in ICAO, told ISNA, "It seems that Iranian airlines have only finalized contracts for new aircraft purchases in recent months. With foresight and planning, we could have addressed the country's needs in this area by securing aircraft with shorter lifespans and purchasing a significant amount of parts and equipment needed for existing aircraft alongside these purchases." The former representative added, "It seems there has been no clear planning for any of today's issues." The lack of planning, as mentioned by Mr. Monzari, appears to have also affected Iran's national airline. Some reports indicate that Iran Air has not purchased necessary parts for the aircraft it bought from ATR and has faced shortages after ATR ceased cooperation. As a result, three out of eight ATR aircraft have been stored for potential parts. One of the biggest problems for Iran Air in the past two years has been securing the necessary financial resources. According to the plan, if financial resources had been secured, Iran Air would have received six more Airbuses and four more ATRs. Iranian companies currently have two different paths ahead; one is to secure new aircraft with shorter lifespans that are available in the market, and the other is to approach aircraft manufacturers in countries that are not subject to sanctions or whose products can bypass U.S. sanctions. Ali-Asghar Monzari believes, "It seems that the most accessible and also the cheapest option available to us right now is the entry of aircraft with shorter lifespans." Experts in Iran believe that purchasing an aircraft like the Airbus 340 or 330, which can fly round trips to cities up to 6,500 kilometers away like Paris with one refueling, could provide further assistance to Iran's ailing aviation industry. This is because, in the event of the return of sanctions, there is a possibility that Iranian airlines could face difficulties even for refueling. In previous years, when international and unilateral sanctions were imposed against Iran, some airports and fuel supply companies refused to deliver fuel to Iranian aircraft. For example, in the years before the nuclear agreement, following reports about several countries refusing to deliver fuel to Iranian passenger planes, some Iranian officials evaluated the "sanction on the sale of aviation fuel to Iran" as part of "U.S. unilateral sanctions." The U.S. has accused Tehran of using some aircraft or commercial airlines to transfer weapons, military personnel, and money to other countries. Iran has always denied this accusation. Despite all this, it seems that some individuals still hope for the purchase of new Airbuses. The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported that Airbus has messaged Iran that it is seeking to maintain the contract for the sale of 100 aircraft. However, the question is what has led the European aircraft manufacturing giant to send such a message to Iranian officials? This newspaper reported that "informed sources" have indicated that the European Union is lobbying in favor of Iran and has asked Airbus to announce the number of aircraft it can deliver to Iran so that they can obtain the necessary permits through political negotiations. An informed official also told Donya-e-Eqtesad that both Airbus and ATR are trying to maintain their contracts with Iran and have communicated this to Iran Air. Nevertheless, Guillaume Faury, head of the civilian aircraft division at Airbus, stated in an interview with the German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, "Although we are still waiting for details on the new U.S. sanctions, it is unlikely that we will be able to deliver the remaining 97 aircraft from the order (for Iran)." Other contradictory statements have also been made; recently, the CEO of ATR announced negotiations with the U.S. for the delivery of four aircraft to Iran that are in the assembly line, while he had previously stated that the delivery of these aircraft to Iran was affected by U.S. sanctions and ATR was not willing to take risks in this regard. Meanwhile, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, an advisor to the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development on international affairs, told the Mehr news agency regarding the latest status of the ATR aircraft after the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, "Representatives of the ATR aircraft manufacturing company have informed us that they have requested a specific permit from the U.S. for the delivery of some of the remaining aircraft from the sales contract to Iran." However, some news sources have reported the possibility of selling four ATR aircraft that have been painted for Iran Air to some airlines in India and Malaysia.