Iran has reached a deal to buy 100 planes from U.S. planemaker Boeing, and the two sides are awaiting approval by U.S. Treasury authorities, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said in remarks published by state media on Sunday.
So far, Boeing has only been granted permission to present its products to Iranair and a handful of other airlines as it tries to catch up with Europe’s Airbus, which won a provisional deal earlier this year for 118 jets worth $27 billion.
Reuters reported on June 6 that Iran was edging toward a historic agreement to buy jetliners from Boeing for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and that a deal for more than 100 aircraft could be reached fairly soon.
“Of the 250 (passenger) planes in Iran, 230 have to be replaced,” Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, told the state-run daily newspaper Iran, adding that a written agreement had been signed with Boeing to buy 100 aircraft.
Abedzadeh said that no precise timeline could be given for the implementation of the deal before an authorization is issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.
“The final obstacle in this area are only the permits from the U.S. Treasury Department,” Abedzadeh told the Iran newspaper.
In January, Iranair agreed in to buy 118 jets worth $27 billion at list prices from Airbus. The deal was conditional on U.S. export licenses because of the quantity of U.S.-built parts.
Reuters
Iran said on Tuesday that it had reached a deal with the global aviation giant Boeing over the purchase of new planes – what could set a new milestone in the country’s efforts to revamp its aging air fleet.
Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi has been quoted by the media as saying that the deal with Boeing has been finalized, adding that its details will be announced within the next few days.
Akhoundi added that Iran has been able to save at least $5 million in its last negotiations over the finalization of the purchase.
The media on 6 June quoted Farhad Parvaresh, the head of the national flag carrier airline of the Islamic Republic – Iran Air – as saying that a “historic aircraft purchase deal” with Boeing was expected to be sealed in the near future.
“Meetings and negotiations are going on. We hope that in the future we can reach an understanding with each other,” Parvaresh told Reuters in an interview.
“The number and type of aircraft have to be discussed in the future, but the first step is to have a mutual understanding.”
In January, Iran signed a major deal worth $27 billion with aviation giant Airbus to purchase 118 planes from the company. The deal with Airbus was sealed during a state visit to Paris by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Apart from Airbus and Boeing, Iran is also negotiating with several other global aviation giants over the purchases of planes including Bombardier and Embraer.
Iran has a fleet of 250 aircraft, of which 90 are grounded due to the economy or missing parts, Parvaresh further told Reuters.
Of that total, 80 percent will need to be renewed in the next decade, he said, adding that growth could add even more jets to Iran’s shopping list.
Press TV
Iran purchases 100 airplanes from Boeing
