Tehran, Iran, August 9
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Iranian airlines are required to dismiss their outdated airplanes in the course of three months, Iran Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Rahmatollah Mahabadi said.
He said according to the requirement, 27 grounded, non-operational airplanes will be collected from airports across the country, IRNA news agency reported August 9.
Each day they delay in doing so they would have to pay a heavy sum, the official stated.
Iran intends to purchase 20 regional jets from a unit of Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, according to Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, deputy minister for international affairs at the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
Fakhrieh Kashan said last week that the deal was likely to be finalized when a Japanese delegation visits Tehran in December.
The lifting of long-standing economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities has allowed it to strike provisional deals worth around $50 billion with Boeing and Airbus to buy some 200 airliners to renew its ageing fleet.
However, financial and political obstacles have continued to dog the deals, and Iran has made clear it is widening its search to include other suppliers.
The Mitsubishi Regional Jet, Japan's first commercial airplane in half a century, will seat just under 100 people and is being developed by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp, which is majority owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.