January 22-2016
Transport Minister Abbas Akhundi announced Saturday that Iran was buying 114 Airbus passenger jets. When queried, Airbus said it had not yet held any commercial talks with Iran! Later, another Iranian official said the first Airbus was expected to arrive in July. That suggested that Iran might be buying a used Airbus or leasing it from another firm, since a new plane couldn’t be delivered so quickly by Airbus. Yet another official told Bloomberg News the deal—he didn’t say with whom—included A340s, which are no longer built by Airbus. This unnamed officials said Iran Air was also interested in long-range A350s and A380s so it could reach US cities. But US officials have said the ban on Iranian flights to the United States hasn’t changed.
