Iran unveils A340-300 with manufacturer serial number 002 as new government aircraft

Iran has shown off an Airbus A340-300 as its new government aircraft, about five months after its previous VIP jet was destroyed. The portal Aeroin reports that the aircraft was displayed on 11 September and bears the registration EP-IGI.

The Israeli air force destroyed an Airbus A340 registered EP-IGA at Tehran-Mehrabad airport on the night of 16 to 17 March. Delivered to Air Canada in 1999, it had served the Iranian government since 2015 and was the largest aircraft in the leadership's fleet.

The replacement is the older of the two. Works number 002 makes it one of the earliest A340s built, in effect a prototype of the type. The four-engine jet flew as a test aircraft for Airbus from 1992, then joined Virgin Atlantic in May 1997 as G-VHOL. From July 2007 it was leased to an unnamed operator, and in June 2011 it was withdrawn from service. The leasing company GMT Global Republic Aviation then acquired it and registered it as M-YRGU.

Iran Aseman Airlines took the aircraft in 2012 as EP-APA. At the time it was the oldest Airbus A340 in passenger service worldwide. In 2017 it carried an Iranian delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York-JFK. It stayed with Iran Aseman, an airline not permitted to fly to Europe, until being withdrawn from service in 2025. The jet had been parked for around a year and a half.