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Japanese delegation to visit Iran for aircraft deal

Business Materials 6 August 2016 17:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 6

By Fatih Karimov – Trend:

A Japanese delegation will visit Tehran in December to discuss selling aircraft to Iran, Iran’s deputy minister of roads and urban development for international affairs, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, said.

Iran’s Aseman airline company has expressed interest to buy 20 MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet) aircrafts, Fakhrieh Kashan said, the official website of the Roads and Urban Development Ministry reported Aug. 6.

The airline eyes to use the aircraft for domestic flights, Fakhrieh Kashan said, adding the planes will be provided to Iran through financial leases.

Japanese side will study Iran’s request until December, when the second working group will be formed to continue talks on the issue, he said.

The MRJ is a twin-engine regional jet aircraft capable of carrying 70–90 passengers. It was earlier announced that Iran is willing to buy 25 short-haul airplane at a value up to $500,000 from Japan’s Mitsubishi Aircraft Organization.

The Iranian official further said that Iran needs over 20 short-haul passenger planes.

Fakhrieh Kashan added that there are over 60 small airports in Iran which need short-haul airplanes to make their activity economically justified.

Certain organizations in Iran also need this type of planes, he said, adding talks are also underway with ATR, the Italian manufacturer of turboprop aircraft, to purchase 20 short-haul planes.

ATR is co-owned by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Italian aerospace group Finmeccanica.

It was earlier announced that Tehran wants to buy up to 40 planes from ATR.

Iran already signed a contract on Jan. 28 for the purchase of 118 Airbus aircraft, during President Hassan Rouhani's trip to France.

The country needs at least 550 new passenger planes until 2025 to renovate its ageing fleet.

The Iranian airlines currently have a total of 266 aircraft. Only 12 of those planes were made after 2000.

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