Iran finalizes deal on Airbus planes

By Azernews

By Nigar Abbasova

Iran’s flag carrier Iran Air has finalized a long-awaited deal with the European aviation giant, Airbus on the purchase of 100 aircrafts.

A delegation of Airbus representatives has been in Tehran since last week to sign the important deal on the purchase of planes following thorough examination of all aspects of the agreement.

Managing Director of the Iranian airline Farhad Parvaresh said that the country will receive seven or eight planes from Airbus in 2017, Press TV reported. The deal was earlier reported to cover the purchase of 118 planes, but the order was trimmed to 100 planes due to the drop of A380s from the contract.

The adjustment also influenced the nominal value of the contract.  Parvaresh said that the value of the Airbus contract will not be more than $10 billion, while the previous value was reported at $25 billion.

Following the nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers, the country has been trying to renew its obsolete fleet of aircraft.  The lift of sanctions, which left the aviation sphere of the country depressed, gave a green light for aircraft sales to Iran allowing the world's largest aerospace companies and leading manufacturers to deliver planes to Tehran, while Iranian airlines got a possibility to buy fuel in the West without making stops in Central Asia, Ukraine and Turkey for refueling.

The country signed an agreement with US aviation giant Boeing on December 11 to purchase some 80 planes, including 50 twin jet narrow-body Boeing 737 planes and 30 long-range wide-body 777 aircraft. The agreement became the first major commercial agreement between Iran and the U.S .in decades.

However, Airbus is at a more advanced stage when it comes to deliveries, as the first Boeing plane is expected to be delivered in April 2018.

The U.S. Treasury Department has already gave the go-ahead to the deal with Airbus, while the consent is of utmost importance as nearly 10 percent of Airbus' components are U.S.- made.