Iran may discharge Russian Tupolev airplanes

In reaction to several accidents involving Russian-built Tupolev passenger planes in Iran, the country weighs discharging its entire Tupolev fleet, an Iranian official says.

“All Iranian airline companies have been asked to refurbish their air fleet and to replace Tupolev air planes with other planes,” Reza Nakhjavani, the Head of Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, said Sunday.

He said that 23 Tupolev airplanes are currently in service by different Iranian airline companies.

On Saturday, the private Iranian airline, Taban Air, decided to ground three of its Russian-made Tupolev passenger planes and replace them with medium range Boeing airliners.

“A Tupolev passenger aircraft has already been grounded and two others are set to be taken out of service as part of an attempt to refurbish the Taban Air fleet,” Managing Director of the airline Asghar Abdullahpour said.

The move comes as a Taban Air flight, carrying 157 people and 13 crewmembers, crashed and caught fire at Mashhad International Airport in northeastern Iran on January 24. As many as 46 people sustained injuries in the incident.

The airliner, which was on a scheduled flight from Abadan, Iran, was a Russian-built Tupolev Tu-154.

Last August, a Tupolev TU-154M aircraft, operated by Iranian carrier Taban Air, was forced to make an emergency landing in Mashhad.

Iranian travel agents and airlines have reported a sharp drop in business amid growing concerns about flight safety.

“The crashes entail a lack of security in the Iranian airlines and discourages foreign tourists from coming to Iran,” Mohammad Ali Vaqefi, member of the board of directors of Iranian tour operators, told ISNA news agency.

Iran says that the US sanctions on its aviation industry is partly to blame for the disastrous incidents.