The Islamic Republic wants to take advantage of the lifting of international sanctions to renew its aging fleet. The agreement should be signed next week in Paris and provides for the acquisition of eight A380.
The project is accurate. Mentioned last November by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani who was on an official visit to France, canceled following the attacks of November 13, the purchase of Airbus aircraft by the Islamic Republic seems to be confirmed. The Iranian Minister of Transport Akhoundi Abbas has said Iran would “sign a contract for the purchase of 114 Airbus aircraft during the visit of President Hassan Rouhani in France, scheduled on January 27″. The announcement of this agreement was made while representatives of 85 foreign aviation companies met in Tehran to attend the summit of aviation Iran 2016, organized by CAPA (Centre for Aviation), a consulting group and ‘aviation-related analysis. Questioned by AFP, an Airbus spokesman declined to comment on the announcement. The signing of an agreement usually materialize in several stages, including those of a “letter” or a “Memorandum of Understanding”, which could be the case when moving Rohani in Paris.
Iran currently has 256 aircraft with “150 are operational (…) with an average age of about 20 years,” said Abbas Akhoundi. “We need 400 long and medium haul aircraft and 100 aircraft mail short,” says Minister of Transportation.
Abbas Akhoundi, Iranian Minister of Transport Copyright: STR / AFP
With a population of nearly 79 million inhabitants, the Iranian government has long said that it must refresh its fleet, for both domestic and international routes, which has suffered from a shortage of spare parts due to the trade sanctions imposed by the international community. According to Reuters who interviewed the Minister, a provisional agreement was reached with Airbus to purchase eight copies of the A380 superjumbo, available from 2019. The agency also met Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, Minister Advisor and Chairman of the Coordination and External Financing Policy, said that the sale would also cover 16 A350. The private company Kish Air is also in talks to buy A321.
This is the first commercial-scale announcement since the lifting of international sanctions on January 16 as a result of the entry into force of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear with major powers. The entry into force of the nuclear agreement allowed the removal of much of the international sanctions, including European and especially American, enacted 36 years ago, which prevented Iran from buying new aircraft.
Akhoundi Abbas said that for now no negotiations had been conducted with the American company Boeing “because of the problems that exist to negotiate with the United States.” According to state television, the US Treasury has not allowed negotiations between Boeing and Iranian companies. “But we certainly will negotiate with Boeing,” said Abbas Akhoundi. The country would also gain a hundred American aircraft.
The Minister also added that “the navigation systems of Iranian airports needed $ 250 million investment to be modernized.” Akhoundi Abbas said that there was currently “67 airports in the country which 9 are active.” “We need small short-haul aircraft to make other assets more airports,” he said. Iran is interested in this context in Mitsubishi MRJ and Bombardier of Canada’s C series. Private Iranian airlines also discuss with the Brazilian Embraer and Russia’s Sukhoi.
No comments:
Post a Comment