Iran Air is open to offers made by any planemaker that can sell airplanes to Iran without being obliged to obtain licenses from US Treasury’s Office for Foreign Assets Control, the CEO of Iran’s flag carrier said.
“We will review any offer made by anyone who is capable of meeting our demand for new airplanes … We have held talks with Russia’s Sukhoi and other non-European planemakers,” Ministry of Roads and Urban Development's news service quoted Farzaneh Sharafbafi as saying.
She did not provide any details about ongoing negotiations.
The flag carrier hoped to make progress in its fleet renewal plans following the lifting of sanctions against Iran in early 2016.
Iran Air signed contracts shortly after the landmark nuclear deal for 80 Boeing jets, 100 Airbus jets and 20+20 ATR turboprops.
An Airbus A321, two Airbus A330s and 13 ATR 72-600 turboprops, five of which were delivered hours before the first reimposition of the first batch of sanctions in August have been delivered to Iran as part of the contracts.
The rest of the orders have been cancelled, as OFAC revoked previously issued licenses allowing the sales of brand-new airplanes to Iran. This is while selling airplanes to Iran was among the issues directly addressed in the nuclear agreement.
Sukhoi’s Advantage
The Russian planemaker has been pitching its products to Iranian airlines since sanctions were lifted against Tehran.
In February, Sukhoi officials announced they had lowered the share of American-made parts in the aircraft to 10%, making it possible for Iranians to lease or purchase the plane without seeking the permission of OFAC as is the case with other plane brands such as Airbus.
Back in April, Iran Aseman and Iran Air Tours signed letters of intent with Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company at Turkey’s Eurasia Airshow, for customized version of the Superjet 100 version dubbed RRJ95R from 2020 to 2022-23. Each carrier needs 20 planes.
Iranian carriers had previously held talks with other planemakers, namely Japan’s Mitsubishi, Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier.
The Japanese planemaker halted negotiations with Iran quickly after the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency, Iran Aseman Airlines told Financial Tribune.
No progress has been made in Iranian carriers’ negotiations with the other two planemakers since Trump took office.
