Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 24
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Representatives from leading aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus will visit Iran next week to discuss the sale and purchase of planes, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, Iran’s deputy minister of Roads and Urban Development, said.
Boeing has provided Tehran with the contract, Fakhrieh Kashan said, the ministry’s official website reported.
He further said that the Chicago-based company has already signed a non-disclosure agreement with Iran.
The company’s representatives have already visited Iran four times, the Iranian official said, expressing hope that talks with the US company will be concluded even before talks with Airbus.
Given the fact that the US Treasury Department has issued the needed permissions, several new passenger planes are expected in Iran before 2017, Fakhrieh Kashan said.
He added that aircraft purchase deal will be signed with Boeing in the near future.
Boeing announced on Sept. 21 that the US Treasury had issued the required authorization to the company to sell 80 planes from a total package of 109 planes to the Islamic Republic.
The Boeing deal is estimated to be worth $25 billion.
Fakhrieh Kashan added that Iran will buy 111 planes from Airbus worth below $10 billion and a financer would make nearly all the payments relating to the purchase.
He underlined that Iran will receive the planes with a 50 percent discount.
During the upcoming meeting of Iran and Airbus officials in Tehran the two parties will discuss legal aspects of the deal, adding that the sides have already reached agreement over technical and financial details.
On the other hand, Secretary of Association of Iranian Airlines Companies Maqsoud Asadi Samani said that besides Iran Air-the Islamic Republic’s flag carrier- other Iranian airlines also are negotiating with the leading aircraft manufacturers on plane purchase.