Iran requires $5bn to buy new aircraft and navigation equipment to upgrade its ageing fleet across all airline in the country.

Parliamentarian Mehrdad Lahouti says that of the total 215 aircraft operating in Iran, 150 planes will need to be retired in the next five years. Iran will need to set aside $4bn for new aircraft and $1bn for navigation equipment.

The average age of Iran’s existing passenger planes is about 22 years. Because of international sanctions against it, Iran’s aviation industry is outdated as the country cannot buy new aircraft or related equipment. The operation of old aircraft has resulted in many crashes in recent years.

In January 2010, 77 people died when a 32-year-old Boeing 727 plane crashed in Orumiyeh. Iran withdrew all of its Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft from its airlines in February 2011, following a spate of accidents.