Iran to Finalize Airbus Deal in Coming Months: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian official announced that a recent deal between Iran and giant French plane manufacturer Airbus for the purchase of 118 passenger aircraft will be finalized in the near future.
Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, the deputy transport minister for aviation affairs, told the Tasnim News Agency that the contract will be finalized in the Iranian calendar month of Khordad (May 21-June 20).
The reason why the process has taken so long is that the deal is a large one, Fakhrieh Kashan went on to say.
It is possible for Iran to finalize the deal even sooner, but the country is taking the upper hand in the negotiations and would not do it at any price, the Iranian official said.
He also referred to the American plane manufacturer Boeing, saying Iran has not held any talks with the US company yet.
“They have said they would come to Iran for negotiations, but I don’t know when (the talks will be held),” he added.
A deal was signed between Iran and Airbus in late January during a visit by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to France.
According to Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi, the agreement, worth $10.5 billion, will allow Iran to receive 118 planes within a span of eight years, beginning this year, under a hire-purchase system.
The Iranian minister noted in January 31 that the country’s state-owned airline, known as Iran Air or Homa, will get 45 A320 single-aisle aircraft, 45 A330 wide-bodies, 16 A350 twin-aisle aircraft, and 12 A380’s.
Akhoundi said at the time that Iran needs 500 new aircraft to renew its civil air fleet. He noted that only 150 out of the country’s 250 planes are now operational, none of them less than 22 years old.
Fakhrieh Kashan had earlier said the value of the contract with Airbus stands at $10 to $11 billion.
