IranAir (IR, Tehran Mehrabad) has continued its shopping spree signing an agreement with ATR - Avions de Transport Régional (EVX, Toulouse Blagnac) for the acquisition of forty ATR72-600s. Of the aircraft, twenty are firm orders while the rest are options.
The deal was signed in Tehran this week and follows commercial discussions held in Rome and Paris during Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Transport Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi's official visits to Italy and France late last month.
During the negotiations, the Italian and French governments played an important role through the participation of their respective export credit agencies - Sace and Coface.
As previously reported, Iran Air is considering setting up a domestic air-taxi service to increase connectivity among the country's more remote and underserved regions. At present, Iran Aseman Airlines (EP, Tehran Mehrabad) is the only Iranian operator of ATR equipment with a fleet of four ATR72-200s and two ATR72-500s.
Last week, Iran Air placed an order for 118 aircraft with ATR affiliate Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) including twenty-one A320ceo Family jets, twenty-four A320neo Family jets, twenty-seven A330ceo Family jets, eighteen A330-900neo, sixteen A350-1000s, and twelve A380-800 aircraft.
