The sales chief of European planemaker Airbus predicted delivery of the remaining jets to Iran could take longer to complete than what was planned under a deal worth $10 billion signed in 2016. “I think those deals will get fulfilled, maybe not on the original schedule,” Airbus sales chief John Leahy told Reuters in an […]
The sales chief of European planemaker Airbus predicted delivery of the remaining jets to Iran could take longer to complete than what was planned under a deal worth $10 billion signed in 2016.
“I think those deals will get fulfilled, maybe not on the original schedule,” Airbus sales chief John Leahy told Reuters in an interview, referring to the company’s agreement to sell 100 planes to Iran Air under a deal signed in Dec. 2016.
“We have to arrange financing; they have to understand about making pre-delivery payments,” he added.
Iran has so far received three Airbus jets – one Airbus A321 and two Airbus A330 – and was due to get another by the end of 2017.
The country has also received 8 out of 20 turboprops built by its Franco-Italian affiliate ATR, bringing the number of new Western planes delivered to Iran so far to 11.
Although the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has paved the way for signing billions worth of deals with major Western companies, banking transactions still remain a matter of concern for bankers who are uncertain over the fate of the agreement due to Washington’s lack of commitment and threats to re-impose sanctions or fine Western financial institutions which do business with Iran.
Iran has also signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of 80 passenger planes, with the first delivery expected around May 2018. In January, Iran Air also signed agreements to buy 118 planes from Airbus, before cutting the number to around 100.
The total value of the three contracts for the purchase of 200 aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and ATR stands at less than $18 billion.
