Iran Air and Airbus have completed negotiations over aircraft, with Iran Air signing for 100 planes in total.
Airbus A330neo and A350neo in flight – Rendering, Airbus
The agreement between Iran Air and Airbus is made up of:
- 46 Airbus A320 family
- 38 Airbus A330 family
- 16 Airbus A350 family
The order follows on from an original letter of intent for 118 aircraft signed in 2016.
First deliveries will begin in early 2017, with an Iran Air A321 already painted and in flight test.
Test flights prior to delivery… Just #beautiful! #Airbus #IranAir #A321 #aviation #airplane pic.twitter.com/rpuKBoKrtU
— Iran Air (@IranAir_IRI) December 21, 2016
Both Iran Air and Airbus are please with Farhad Parvaresh, Iran Air Chairman and CEO stating.
“I am delighted that we have reached an agreement to go to the next decisive phase and start taking delivery of new aircraft. I am gratified that this new round of cooperation with Airbus has come to fruition and brought us closer with more practical steps to follow for Iran Air’s fleet renewal. Iran Air considers this agreement an important step towards a stronger international presence in civil aviation. We hope this success signals to the world that the commercial goals of Iran and its counterparts are better achieved with international cooperation and collaboration”
The order itself is subject to the US government Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) export licences which were granted in September and November 2016.
In particular, these licences are required if planes contain 10% or more of US Technology content.
The road to ordering planes for Iran Air (and other Iranian airlines) is a long one – with trade sanctions being a key barrier to renewing its fleet.
With some sanctions eased, new aircraft will start arriving. However, one cannot predict the political climate (especially in the USA) – which could bring this whole thing to a shuddering haul quickly.
Whilst not one to watch in terms of massive change, the political fallout could be more interesting.
But for Iran Air – its a step to modernise and update.
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