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Iran says European airlines increase flights to country

27 April 2015 14:32 (UTC+04:00)
Iran says European airlines increase flights to country

By Sara Rajabova

The softening of international pressure on Iran followed by the Lausanne framework agreement with world powers has created grounds for a boom in the Islamic Republic’s aviation industry.

Foreign airlines are now eyeing to increase their flights to Iran, expecting a significant rise in foreign visits to the country and vice versa, should international sanctions against the country be lifted.

Mohammad Khodakarami, the deputy director of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran has recently said European airlines seek to increase flights to Iran.

He said a German airline has recently booked flights to Iran, adding that the ceiling of flights to the country is 14 flights per week, Iran’s Mehr news agency said.

Khodakarami further noted that a Greek airline is planning to launch three weekly flights to Iran, adding more over that Alitalia is seeking to increase its flights to Iran to 5 flights per week.

Turkish Airlines and Air Asia have announced their readiness to increase flights to the country, according to him.

Khodakarami went on to say that although no American airline is currently operating flights to Iran, two Iranian airlines have the potential to launch flights to the U.S.

Moreover, Iran’s need for passenger planes has increased as the country expects to see an improvement in its transactions with foreign countries.

Ali Reza Jahangirian, head of the country’s aviation organization said earlier that Iran needs to buy up to 500 passenger planes in the next 10 years to renovate its aging fleet.

The ongoing talks with Iran and super powers have opened up a small window for commercial airplane manufacturers, with Boeing planning to sell more airplane parts to Iran Air. Boeing is also negotiating with Iran Air Tours, a subsidiary of Iran Air, for the supply of goods and other services.

In February, Iran said it had concluded three contracts with the U.S. aviation giant Boeing after it signed the Geneva nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries in the late 2013.

Last year, major U.S. aerospace manufacturers, Boeing and General Electric, applied for export licenses in order to sell airliner parts to Iran following the November 2013 deal.

The Iranian aviation industry is under U.S. sanctions. The U.S. Treasury has barred Iranian airlines, including Iran Air, from landing or operating in the U.S. Furthermore, extraterritorial U.S. sanctions prevent European airports from providing Iranian carriers with fuel or accepting their money.

However, a preliminary agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in November 2013 led to an easing of sanctions in the aviation sector.

The United States and European nations have imposed severe economic sanctions on Iran in recent years aiming to pressure Tehran to dramatically reduce its nuclear program for a lengthy period of time to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.

However, Iran has denied the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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