Moscow seeking to provide Tehran with its civil aircraft

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Easing relations with Iran and expectations for a speedy removal of international sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program has lead to new market prospects for makers of airport facilities equipment.

As is in other fields, Iran’s aviation sector is also expected to see a boom following the lifting of sanctions.

Foreign companies specialized in the aviation industry are competing to gain an advantage in projects aimed at renovating Iran’s aviation fleet.

Having intended not to stay behind, Western aviation giants such as Boeing and Airbus, Russian firms are also interested in exporting its aircrafts to Iran.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on August 25 that Russia intends to provide Iran with civil aircraft in the near future, RIA Novosti reported.

This comes as a representative delegation led by Sorena Sattari, Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology, had recently visited Moscow.

"We do not exclude the possibility that Iran may become one of our partners in the procurement of Russian civil aircraft," Rogozin said, adding that Iran and Russia are also developing cooperation in nuclear energy.

He said this cooperation could be expanded to shipbuilding, aerospace, and the use of space-based services.

The aviation sector is ripe for rejuvenation. It has more than 15 commercial and cargo airlines and more than 300 airports serving both domestic and international destinations.

During the sanctions period, the country has witnessed a number of air disasters that have plagued the aviation sector directly attributable to dilapidated fleets.

Rogozin also added that Russia and Iran would sign a document on the establishment of the High Level Group on cooperation in the sphere of high technologies in Moscow on August 26.

The group is expected to examine possibilities for cooperation between Russia and Iran in areas of mutual interest, first of all, using modern technologies.

Recently, a Russian bank announced interest in exports of Superjet International passenger planes to Iran.

In an interview with the Rossiya Segodnya news agency on August 13, acting general director of Sberbank Leasing, Kiril Tsarev, said he saw a large demand in Iran for passenger planes in the short term and that his company was interested in supplying Superjets to the country.

However, an Iranian official earlier said Iran’s experience with Russian-made passenger aircraft has not been good, and therefore it is unlikely that Iranian aviation companies would try to secure Russian airplanes anymore.

Maqsoud Samani Assadi, the secretary of Iran’s Airlines Association, told Trend that economic calculations and Iran’s bad experience with Russian Tupolev airplanes make it more likely that Iranian aviation companies would seek Airbus and Boeing products instead.

The Islamic Republic plans to buy as many as 90 planes per year from Boeing and Airbus to revamp its antiquated fleet once Western sanctions are lifted.

Iranian officials earlier said the county will need 400-500 civilian aircraft worth at least $20 billion in the next decade to renovate its aging fleet, which has suffered under years of U.S. and European sanctions.

The U.S.-led sanctions on aircraft and spare parts have left Iranian airlines saddled with not only some of the oldest fleets in the Middle East, but also in the world.

The lifting of sanctions will rejuvenate the aviation industry and provide a number of economic and social incentives. It is expected to lead to the creation of much-needed jobs for the local population, the return of passenger volumes lost to regional and European carriers, and a boost to the domestic and international tourism sectors that would in turn create opportunities in the Iranian hospitality sector.