A300B4, world’s oldest passenger Airbus, ends flights in Iran
September 1, 2025
Airbus’s oldest passenger commercial aircraft, an A300B4, appears to have retired. The aircraft flew for the last time in August, but may have had its last passenger flight in June.
Oldest Airbus aircraft withdrawn from use
According to Air Data News, Iran Air has withdrawn its final Airbus A300B4 from passenger service. The aircraft in question is registered EP-IBG and was the oldest passenger Airbus aircraft still in commercial operation.
The newspiece quoted “reports” that its final commercial flight took place on June 12 as it flew from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Isfahan in Iran.
According to flight data from FlightRadar24, the A300B4 did indeed fly between Jeddah and Saudi Arabia on that date. However, flight data also shows the aircraft continued to fly after being grounded for a month and a half. The aircraft resumed regular flights six weeks later, on the first of August, flying regularly between Tehran (IKA) and Najaf (NJF) in Iraq.
The last recorded flight was on August 16th. It is unclear if those final flights in the first half of August were passenger flights or something else.
Planespotters.net shows that the aircraft was stored at Tehran Mehrabad (THR) between January 2017 and July 2018, when it re-entered service. Planespotters.net then shows the aircraft was withdrawn from use on 17th August 2025.
Story of Airbus’ oldest flying commercial aircraft
The first commercial aircraft produced by Airbus was the A300B1, which flew in October 1972. The aircraft was also the world’s first twin-engine, widebody airliner. The A300 came with a typical capacity for 247 passengers in a two-class configuration and a range of 2,900 to 4,050 nautical miles.
The greater-ranged A300B4 variant first flew in December 1974 and entered service with Bavaria Germanair in December 1975. The A300B4 came in the B4-100 version (47 examples produced) and the B4-200 version (136 examples produced). Airbus outsized cargo Airbus’ BelugaST freighters are also based on the A300.
The final Iran Air passenger A300B4 was 41 years old at its retirement. It had first been delivered to Luxair before going on to serve with KarAir, Finnair, Caledonian Airways, and Turkish Airlines. In 2006, the aircraft entered Iran Air service, meaning that the aircraft flew for the Iranian airline for almost two decades.
Iran’s sanctioned commercial fleet
Iran has been heavily sanctioned for years, and this has cut it off from the international aviation market. Iran is forced to hold onto older aircraft, and it has one of the oldest fleets in the world. Iran Air, itself, has also been sanctioned over aiding Russia in Ukraine.
When sanctions were briefly lifted in 2016, Iran moved to order up to 100 Boeing aircraft, over 100 Airbus aircraft, and up to 40 ATR 72-600s (20 orders and 20 options). But the United States slammed the sanctions back on in 2018. By that time, only a few aircraft had been delivered, and the rest were canceled.
Iran is forced to scour the black market looking for parts for aircraft to keep its aging fleet flying. It also purchases retired aircraft (like A340s) under a fake shelf company belonging to another company. These are similar to maintain, and there are more parts from canibalized aircraft on the market.
Illegally purchased aircraft are then ostensibly flown to a third country, but while en route, they are diverted and land at their new home in Iran. According to Iran International Newsroom, one example of this happened in 2022 when four ex-Turkish A340s registered in Burkina Faso took off from South Africa, bound for Uzbekistan, only to land in Iran.
