TEHRAN (FNA)- European companies have proposed to sell passenger plane parts to Iran following the recent agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), a senior aviation official announced on Saturday.


Speaking to FNA, Managing Director of the Caspian Airlines Jamshid Torkan pointed to the offers made by some foreign companies to invest in Iran’s aviation industry, and said, “Some European companies have sent requests for the supply of passenger plane parts to this airline …, but we have told them to wait for now because our legal department is working on it.”

Torkan said that after the Geneva agreement, the sanctions on the Iranian aviation industry have apparently been reduced, therefore mechanisms for importing planes should be prepared.

Last month, Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Ali Reza Jahangirian announced that several foreign airlines have voiced their willingness to resume operation and reopen their bureaus in Tehran following the recent nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers in Geneva last week.

Jahangirian pointed to the recent agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in Geneva last week, and said, “After the agreement we have received requests for the resumption of foreign airlines' operation in Iran.”

He reiterated that the same airlines that were active in Iran in previous years are going to ask for the reopening of their bureaus in the coming weeks.

“Following the removal of the sanctions, aviation operations in the country will increase by 50 percent till next year,” Jahangirian told FNA.

The official said that the country’s passenger fleet will increase by 50 percent by the next year.

“A specific paragraph has been predicted in the Geneva agreement on the removal of the embargos on the supply of passenger plane parts (to Iran),” he said.

Iran can have access to passenger plane parts from now on following the recently-concluded nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany in Geneva in late November.

According to the deal, some Iranian airlines can have access to safety repair and inspection inside Iran, Bloomberg reported.

The Western embargo on the supply of passenger plane parts to Iranian companies was one of the main causes of air crashes and technical problems in Iran, costing the lives of tens of civilians.

Iran and the six major world powers reached an agreement in Geneva on November 24 after days of intensive negotiations.

Meantime, the former head of ICAO announced in mid November that Iran plans to renovate its fleet of passenger planes and also upgrade the country’s safety flight standards this year.

“If we add 20 passenger planes to our fleet each year, we will achieve our specified goal of having a fleet with 550 aircraft by 2025,” former Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Hamid Reza Pahlavani said.

He said that a sum of 21 airplanes joined Iran’s fleet last Iranian year (ended March 20), and continued, “24 other planes, including three Airbus 320s, have joined the country’s passenger fleet so far this year (started March 21).”

Pahlavani said that a sum of 13 other passenger jets, including seven planes to be imported by the airlines and six brand new ones in coordination with the government, will be added to the fleet.

He reiterated that Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization acts in accordance with the safety regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and said, “The objective of implementing these regulations is upgrading our flight safety standards …”

In May, Pahlavani announced that several new passenger planes would join the country's air fleet in the current Iranian year (started March 21).

"A number of planes will be added to the national fleet this year," Pahlavani said.

In April, Iran announced that its national carrier, Iran Air (Homa), added six new passenger planes to its fleet in the last Iranian year (ended March 20).

According to a report by the official website or the Iranian Ministry of Road and Urban Development, Iran Air added 6 new passenger planes last year.

Since 2010 Iran has started a plan to renew its air fleet not only through purchase of foreign planes, but also through domestic production in a bid to improve conditions in its aviation industry.

In January, Pahlavani announced that a number of home-made passenger planes, capable of carrying 80, 100 and 150 passengers, will join the country's air fleet.

The Islamic Republic of Iran plans to manufacture three domestically-designed passenger planes by 2026, Pahlavani said at the time.

Iran announced last year that it aims to fly its first Antonov-158 jointly built with the Ukrainian company in 2013.

The new air vehicle with a seating capacity of 100 passengers will be the next generation of Iran-140 airplane.

After purchasing the production license for the Antonov-140 from Ukraine in 2000, Iran built its first Iran-140 passenger plane in 2003.

The first IRAN-140 aircraft was introduced by Iran in 2003. Five domestically-manufactured IRAN-140 planes were completed in October 2008 to increase the country's transportation capacity and upgrade the Iranian passenger fleet.

The IRAN-140 is a double-engine turboprop aircraft which can fly almost 1,865 miles before re-fuelling and its passenger model seats 52 people.

By Fars News Agency

 

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