More than 20 decommissioned aircraft have been parked at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport by the entrance for over a decade, creating an unsightly image, the airport's CEO said on August 26.

The sad sight has been a growing problem for the heavily sanctioned country, with its several public and private airlines using a diminishing stock of decrepit flying stock, some dating back to the 1980s. The situation has only become worse for IranAir and other airlines as US sanctions have made the purchase of new aircraft and parts virtually impossible, albeit apart from the black market and from friendly states like Russia – itself under heavy Western-led sanctions.  

Saeed Chalandari, CEO of Imam Khomeini Airport City Co., told ILNA news agency that if airlines do not take action to scrap and sell these aircraft as waste, the airport will significantly increase parking fees.

The CEO appeared embarrassed that the growing fleet of so-called “zombie jets” have been sitting at the entrance to the main passenger terminal, with passengers and airport visitors often remarking on the volume of dusty old jets.

"About 20 medium-body and wide-body aircraft that need to be scrapped and dismantled have been parked in the airport area for more than 10 years," Chalandari said.

"Companies should sell these planes as scrap," he said, hinting that the airlines are potentially using the planes as vehicles for cannibalising due to the lack of parts available to the companies in recent years.

The airport has urged Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation to put pressure on airlines to remove the derelict aircraft. Chalandari noted that current parking fees at Imam Khomeini Airport are minimal, based on land use rights.

The state of Iran’s airlines and flying stock has come under the spotlight in recent months following the deaths of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in May.

It is still officially unclear why the US-made Bell 212 helicopter that was carrying the president and foreign minister along with other officials crashed into the forested hills on the border of Azerbaijan, but the age of the government’s own flying stock has been blamed by some in Iran.

Earlier on August 21, Fars News Agency released a report about the causes of the helicopter incident. The agency cited “an informed security source” as saying that unfavourable weather conditions and the excessive weight of the helicopter were the two reasons for the crash.

The flight teams had been informed of weather conditions the night before and were supposed to complete the flight before 1:00 p.m. local time, but it was delayed due to the president’s meetings, according to the report.

“The security and intelligence agencies have completed their detailed investigations, and there is absolute certainty that what happened was an accident,” the source quoted.

However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces later declared that what was reported by Fars News, quoting a "security source”, was flawed and invalid.

It reminded that the General Staff, the authority responsible for publishing news about this incident, had previously explained the dimensions and reasons for the helicopter crash in two separate statements.

“It is necessary for the media to coordinate with the [General Staff of the Armed Forces] when publishing defence, security and law enforcement news, and to prioritise accuracy over speed to avoid providing opportunities for enemy abuse,” the General Staff said in a statement.

The country has had to rely on a growing assortment of second-hand planes either through brokers or third countries like Armenia to keep its air fleet going in recent years.

IranAir’s CEO in 2023 told ILNA news agency that it hoped to have six of the several parked aircraft back in the air through local repairs; however, there is no news on whether these jets were made airworthy again.

IranAir's active fleet of 11 passenger aircraft is left to operate the airline's route network across the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Iran Air's intercontinental destinations include Milan, Paris, Hamburg and London Heathrow.

As well as bringing back older aircraft, IranAir also intended to modernise its ageing fleet, as the average age of the carrier's fleet stands at 26 years and is rising again due to a lack of availability.

Iran Air has a number of outstanding orders with Airbus, including 32 A320neos, 28 A330neos and 16 A350s.

The orders date back to 2016, but only a handful of aircraft were delivered before the US reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.

IranAir ordered 100 Airbus jets and 20 Franco-Italian ATR turboprops, but it has only taken delivery of three Airbus and 8 ATR planes to date. The first Airbus plane, an Airbus A321, was handed over to IranAir at a ceremony in Toulouse, France on January 11 last year.

Industry sources in 2018 said that Boeing had been tentatively due to send Iran three 777s this year but has reshuffled deliveries with other buyers.

Iran had hopes during the nuclear deal to revive its title of regional aviation leader from upstarts like Etihad, Qatar and Emirates and Turkish Airlines; however, due to the ongoing sanctions regime the situation for the country’s fleet and airline infrastructure has remained bleak.

During the heady days of 2016 nuclear deal bonanza, European airlines including KLM – which no longer flies to Tehran – was eager to use the city’s Imam Khomeini Airport as a regional hub for its operations due to its altitude being several thousand feet in the air compared with Persian Gulf rivals further south. The airline was so enthused about the Iranian aviation industry growth that it went so far as to name one of its new jets “City of Tehran,” bne IntelliNews reported in 2016.