Industry Spotlight: Airlines
/By Allyson Socha, Research Associate
When international travel restrictions were lifted following worldwide Covid-19 lockdowns, airlines celebrated the opportunity for financial recovery. In Iran, however, pandemic-era restrictions were not the sole, nor even the prime, factor hindering the airline industry. Since 1979 the Iranian civilian aviation industry has struggled with grounded planes, safety concerns, and other operational restrictions as a result of sanctions.
The Origins of Aviation in Iran
The commercial airline industry in Iran began in the late 1920s when German airplane manufacturer Junkers signed a deal with the Iranian government to start an airline service. The Iranian parliament agreed to a five-year deal in which Junkers could fly commercially in the country and expand to other nations in the region. The agreement proved significant as it prompted the company to open a flight school in Iran to train pilots, establish a base airport, and begin transporting passengers, freight, and mail. Junkers Airline Company in Iran operated regionally from 1927 to 1932; after this period there was no commercial air transportation until 1938, when the Iranian government created a state-sponsored airline.
The Iran Ministry of Post and Telegraph expanded its responsibilities to include organizing Iranian State Airlines in 1938. The state-run airline was relatively limited but still effective in progressing the role of commercial air services, running a couple passenger and airmail flights per week. They received operational support from British Imperial Airlines. The airline also provided valuable air transportation during World War II and eventually stopped operating in 1946 when a new private airline began flying.
Iran Airways Company was founded as a private company in 1944 by Iranian investors, some of whom also founded Irantour as the first Iranian travel and tourism company. Iran Airways operated its first passenger flight two years later in 1946, running from Tehran to Mashhad, with an original fleet of U.S.-made Douglas DC-3s. Trans World Airlines held a 10% share in the company and provided technical support until 1949. The airline continued purchasing DC-3s as they were considered the best in aviation at the time and at one point had 20 in their fleet. The Trans World Airlines contract would later be terminated, and Iran Airways would have different contracts with French Cie General de Transport and American Trans Ocean Airlines for the provision of technical assistance until 1961.
In February 1962, Iran National Airways was founded as a government-owned airline. The aviation company was known internationally as Iran Air and quickly became a player in global aviation, despite its relatively small size in comparison to massive world airlines. Iran Air prioritized passenger and crew safety first, followed by accessible international travel and maintaining a modern fleet as its next most important objectives. For over a decade the company earned various accolades for the safety of its operations. Since then, imposed sanctions and other restrictions have drastically hindered the success of not only Iran Air but also the aviation industry in Iran as a whole.
The Aging Fleet: A Product of Sustained Sanctions
The post-Islamic Revolution era in Iran saw the imposition of sanctions and subsequent changes to Iran Air and Iranian aviation generally. After the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, the United States cut relations and imposed international trade sanctions, including an embargo on aircraft sales, on Iran. Further United Nations and European operational restrictions were also enacted, which combined to effectively cripple the industry.
From 1979 to 1982, Iran Air was able to acquire six European Airbus A300s, but they would not obtain another aircraft until 1990, when they bought six Fokker 100s for regional flights. In 1994, an exception to the US embargo as compensation for the US Navy downing of Iran Air Flight 655 allowed Iran Air to obtain two additional Airbus A300s with US-manufactured GE engines. Additional purchases of these planes in later years was, however, not possible as trade restrictions were thereafter strictly upheld.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, new airlines joined the Iranian aviation industry despite the sector’s staunch isolation. The Iranian Air Force formed Saha Airlines, and three other private airlines were formed, including Caspian Airlines, Kish Airlines, and Mahan Air. Mahan Air acquired Tupolev Tu-154s at the start from Russia, which skirted US sanctions and sold Iran planes with US-made equipment. The 2000s brought about more Iranian airlines and further demonstrated the effects of global restrictions. In 2010 the old Tu-154s were banned after gaining a reputation for poor quality due to age. A 2009 crash with Caspian Airlines served as the final nail for prohibiting the aircraft. Iranian aviation then turned to the acquisition of second-hand equipment and sanctions evasion tactics, including the use of international partner organizations and front businesses to obtain new equipment, refurbished parts, or even entire aircraft. Despite attempts to use these loopholes in the sanctions regime, the majority of airlines endured significant restrictions to their equipment and operational capacity.
The 2015 nuclear deal attempted to bring about some sanctions relief in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but despite formal alleviation, little improvement was actually seen in the airline industry. Iran ordered over 200 aircraft from Western manufacturers during the sanctions grace period, but only 16 were delivered before sanctions returned in 2019. In addition to banning the acquisition of new planes, sanctions also have barred the technical services available to Iranian aircraft in foreign airports, which further disrupts this industry.
As of September 2022, Planespotters.net estimated the average fleet age of Iran Air to be 16.8 years. Other sources previously reported the overall Iranian fleet age to be more than 25 years old. In comparison, the average fleet age of US-based American Airlines is approximately 12.4 years and middle eastern Qatar Airways is only 8 years. The younger ages of these fleets correlate with fewer air-related incidents and more public confidence in the safety of the airlines. For Iran, its aging fleet, combined with sanctions on obtaining replacement parts and technical aircraft services, means that many of its older planes must be grounded. By some estimates only half of all Iranian airplanes are currently operational. Iran Air, for example, only had 12 of its 40 aircraft operational as of August 2020 because the majority of their planes required an overhaul that they were unable to complete.
Long sustained limitations from sanctions have left airlines using unconventional methods in order to maintain operation. A recent photo surfaced of grounded planes ravaged for parts at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. Many civilians were perplexed by the image as it is a bizarre sight for an operational airport; however, the satellite image exposes the reality of the aging fleet and the need to resort to tactics such as “cannibalized” planes in order to maintain operation. With the inability to get new parts or new aircraft altogether, it is necessary to make use of every functional part of older planes in order to maximize the number of passenger planes they can fly.
It is worth noting that while sanctions on the Iranian aviation industry have negatively impacted the safety of civilian air travel in Iran and decimated available equipment and technology, Western goals for these sanctions were not focused on civilian implications, but rather on restricting Iran’s military capability. Historically, Iran has made a habit of “using aircraft interchangeably for civilian passenger flights and military-related activities.” Iranian airlines, including most notably state-owned Iran Air, have transported weapons and personnel internationally, and while this intersection of resources serves to increase efficiency of Iranian operations, it also makes Iranian aviation activity effectively synonymous with military activity for countries opposed to Iranian military objectives. Certainly this causes difficult decisions on sanctions, whereby humanitarian effects must be evaluated alongside the desire to cut support to parts of the Iranian military.
The Civilian Perspective of Aviation Safety
Despite some sources’ claims that the old age of the Iranian fleet does not translate to safety issues, recent plane crashes and flight incidents leave civilians with much trepidation about Iran’s air safety. Early in 2020, back-to-back flight accidents proved just cause for passenger concern. Iran’s Caspian Airlines had an MD-83 aircraft skid off the runway on January 27, 2020 in Mahshahr after the plane’s tires failed to descend. Several videos went viral on the internet of passengers exiting the plane via doors and the wings. Directly before this crash landing, various other incidents occurred. First, a Qeshm Airlines plane had to abort takeoff due to engine problems. Then on January 25, 2020, an Iran Airtour Airbus A300-600 had to circle in air near Tehran in order to “consume fuel and reduce weight” before doing an emergency landing back to the airport.
Airport and airline officials often attribute these incidents and numerous domestic flight cancellations to minor technical issues or fail to offer an explanation entirely. A decrease in the number of fatalities caused by air-accidents in recent years allows sources to claim an increase in overall safety despite the age of the fleet. However, this general claim is aligned with global industry improvements and neglects to recognize the multitude of incidents in Iran which do not end in fatalities but nonetheless still contribute to Iranians’ fear of flying and distrust of the Iranian airlines.
Airline safety and product review website AirlineRatings.com gave Iran Air and Iran Airtour a 2/7 safety rating in its 2022 assessment, based on criteria including crash- and pilot-related serious incident data. Additionally, Skytrax, a United Kingdom-based consultancy, had previously named Iran Air and Mahan Air as two of the top 20 worst airlines worldwide, again based on service quality and accidents. These more comprehensive analyses portray the full effect of restrictions imposed on Iranian airlines and provide an explanation for the fear of flying which deters many passengers from using Iranian airlines.
Without visible fleet improvements and improved crash and service quality statistics, it is unlikely that the aviation industry will see many changes in civilian perceptions and technical fleet capabilities. The current decimated status of Iranian airlines further proves the multi-faceted and long term effects of economic sanctions and overall international collaboration on numerous service and consumer industries.
