Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Canada will supply Iran with 10 passenger planes, Reza Baqerinejad, head of Qeshm Free Zone Investment and Development Company, said.
Montreal-based multinational aerospace and transportation company, Bombardier Inc. has finalized a contract regarding the issue and handed over it to Qeshm Free Zone Organization for signature, Baqerinejad said, the organization’s official website reported.
The contract is prepared following two years of negotiations, Baqerinejad said, adding that Iran will purchase 10 Bombardier CRJ900 from the Canadian air-plane maker.
Once the deal is signed, the plane-maker will hand over 10 planes to Iran in a two aircraft per each three months schedule, he said.
The purchased planes will join to the fleet of a new airline, namely “Fly Qeshm”, which will be launch by Qeshm Free Zone Organization, the official added.
It was earlier announced that the airline will start operation as of February 2018.
Iran was negotiating to purchase 25 aircrafts from Canada, but due to financial resources limitations the deal will be limited to 10 aircrafts for the time being.
Last year, Hamidreza Momeni, Qeshm Free Zone Organization’s chief executive, announced that Canada will provide $100 million in finance for air plane purchase from Bombardier.
Momeni said the $100-million finance will cover 80 percent of the deal, which entails the supply of 10 passenger planes.
The organization’s talks with Bombardier to purchase passenger planes were publicized for the first time in April 2016, when Pierre Beaudoin, the executive chairman of Bombardier, led a delegation to Iran.
The CRJ900 is a stretched 76–90 seat version of the CRJ700, introduced in 2003. It is the longest CRJ aircraft produced by Bombardier to date and features a strengthened wing with a redesigned winglet. It is powered by two General Electric CF34-8C5 turbofan engines that give the aircraft a cruise speed of Mach 0.83 and range of up to 1,976 nautical miles.
The Bombardier CRJ900 is available in standard, Extended Range (ER) and Long Range (LR) versions.