Iran Air has repaired engine damage on an Airbus A300-600 and returned the aircraft to operational service, providing a limited fleet-capacity gain as the airline rebuilds its heavily constrained operation. The aircraft, registered EP-IBA, made an unscheduled landing at Ahvaz after an engine problem during a domestic flight and was subsequently cleared to fly again.
The aircraft was operating flight IR3456 from Abadan to Mashhad on 17 October when a technical fault developed in the left engine after take-off. Iran Air dispatched a maintenance team to Ahvaz, where technicians repaired damage to the engine gearbox without replacing the complete engine. The repair was reportedly the first of its kind carried out by Iran Air.
The A300 was released for flight on 20 October and flew two days later to Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran without a reported technical problem. The available information does not indicate whether it has resumed scheduled commercial services.
The repair comes as Iran Air faces severe fleet shortages. Recent reporting indicated that only six aircraft were operating, including one A300-600, while other aircraft had returned to service following engine-related maintenance. Iran Air chief executive Taher Abdolhai has estimated that 30 to 40 previously operational aircraft were destroyed during the war and another 70 to 80 were damaged. Those figures have not been independently established, and the number of repairable aircraft remains unclear.