Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) has confirmed that while it is in talks about the sale of aircraft to several undisclosed Iranian carriers, it has no plans to participate in the establishment of any new airline company there.
Last week, Bloomberg reports linked the Canadian manufacturer to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with officials from Iran's Qeshm Free Zone regarding the establishment of an airline. As such, a formal agreement was said to have been two months away.
However, company spokeswoman Marianella de la Barrera denied the claims in a statement to Reuters issued this past weekend. While Bombardier does not have any plans to establish a carrier per se, she did not deny claims the firm may sell aircraft to an Iranian start-up.
In February, the director of Qeshm’s Free Trade Organization, Hamidreza Momeni, announced the formation of Fly Qeshm (Gheshm), a joint-venture between Iran and China. The start-up plans to commence passenger flights later this year using aircraft sourced by its Chinese shareholders.
