The French Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, announced that the ATR aircrafts are ready to be delivered to Iran.
“Iran and France are preparing for long term relations. Currently negotiations are underway for the purchase of 10 radar systems from the Thales Group. The delivery process and financing of the Airbus airplanes is expected to continue for 20 years and the contract which has been signed for the Mashhad airport is for 12 years. In order to solve the issues of financing, a trans-political solution is required”, said Abbas Akhundi, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urbanization, in a meeting with the France’s Minister of Economy, Michel Sapin, in Tehran last week.
Iran also has plans for the renewal and renovation of 65000 old trucks and France has been invited to further cooperation, in the road, rail and sea transportation sectors.
Mr Sapin announced the finalization of the contract between Iran and ATR and emphasized that the aircraft manufactured for Iran are ready to be delivered. He also announced that French companies are ready to assist Iran in renewing their rolling stock.
After the lifting of the sanctions, Iran Air, the flag carrier airline of Iran and the oldest airline in the Middle East, purchased 100 airplanes from Airbus and 20 Airplanes seating 70 from ATR. Currently, only one Airbus has been delivered. However, two more Airbus and three ATR airplanes are to be delivered by the end of the year.
During the sanctions, Iranian trade with the French dropped to less than €500m in 2013 from €4.3b in 2004. Both countries are now planning to increase trade to up to 5 billion Euros.
