Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iran will launch a new airline company, called TehranAir, that will have ten Airbus 320 planes.
TehranAir will be headed by the former head of the country's airports company, Mohammad Ilkhani, an informed source told Fars news agency.
Ahead of his Europe visit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran would probably sign a deal to buy Airbus aircraft during his visit to France, AFP reported on Nov 11.
Rouhani is expected to kick off his first Europe visit as Iranian president on Nov. 14.
Earlier, on Nov 1, Fars news agency had reported that Iran had bought 13 Boeing-737-400 passenger planes that were manufactured between 1995 and 2000.
Iran has a decrepit civil aviation fleet, with some airplanes averaging 25 years of age, partly due to international sanctions. The country is in the midst of a drive to upgrade its fleet. It is planning to add some 400 new airplanes in the first five years after sanctions are removed.
Iran and the P5+1 group of countries agreed on July 14 to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal) to curb Tehran's nuclear program, in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions.