Engines

Iran's national flag carrier Iran Air, also known as Homa, added three secondhand Airbus A319 jets to its fleet on Sunday for commemorating its 57th anniversary.

According to Iran Air officials, the measure is part of the plans for increasing the capacity of flights to meet the high seasonal demand for air travels during the upcoming Iranian New Year (starting March 21) holidays.

The flag carrier has taken delivery of the three jets, after purchasing them from an unnamed domestic airline company last year, ILNA reported.

All the three jets were manufactured in 2002.

The measure comes after Airbus, Boeing and ATR Aircraft failed to uphold their contracts with Iran Air as a result of the US administration's unilateral withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

The reimposition of US sanctions against Iran also prevented the sale of Russian-made Sukhoi aircraft to Iranian airliners.

Iran Air had finalized firm deals to purchase 100 jets from Airbus, 80 jets from Boeing and 20+20 turboprops from ATR Aircraft.

The flag carrier only managed to take delivery of three Airbus jets (one A321 and two A330 jets) and 13 ATR 72-600 turboprops.