Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

Iran plans to buy 12 Superjet-100 aircraft in near future

22 February 2017 13:44 (UTC+04:00)
Iran plans to buy 12 Superjet-100 aircraft in near future

By Kamila Aliyeva

Iran continues taking steps that would help to modernize its aviation industry as the country plans to buy 12 Russian Superjet-100 aircrafts soon.

The Islamic Republic has confirmed its intention to purchase 12 Superjet-100 Russian aircrafts in the near future, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel, TASS reported.

The minister also noted that Russia expressed interest in launching in Iran a production of components for Russian aircraft, and, in case of the corresponding proposal the country is ready to consider such possibility.

In addition, according to Novak, Russia has offered Iranian partners to establish joint production of turboprop upgraded Ilyushin Il-114 aircraft.

"Our companies are currently working with Iranian partners to come up with specific solutions and proposals," he added.

Iran has several private and public airline companies in operation, among which IranAir is the oldest one. The number of operational airports in the country is 46.

Iranian officials say that the country will need 400-500 civilian aircrafts in the next decade to renovate its aging fleet which has suffered under years of U.S. and European sanctions.

When sanctions were eased in January 2016 after Iran certified that it had shelved its nuclear program, Tehran immediately opened talks with Boeing Co. and the European manufacturer Airbus to buy hundreds of aircraft.

Europe's Airbus signed a firm contract to sell 100 jets to IranAir on December 22, 2016. Iran’s first brand-new A321 Airbus aircraft landed in Tehran after 38 years of international embargo on January 12, 2017.

Airbus will supply four types of aircraft: its medium-haul A320 and A321 aircraft and the long-haul A330 and A350.

Iran signed a $16.6 billion deal for 80 Boeing passenger jets on December 11, 2016. The deal between IranAir and U.S. plane maker Boeing includes 50 narrow-body 737 MAX aircraft and 30 long-haul 777s, split equally between the 777-300ER, which is badly in need of an order boost, and the 406-seat 777-9, which is under development. The first airliner should be delivered to Tehran in 2018.

But, the prospects of Iran’s deal with the American Boeing are overshadowed by the election of Donald Trump as the U.S. president, as he is strongly opposed to the nuclear deal and Iran’s economic freedom.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more