Iran to Finalize Deal with ATR Plane Maker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran is going to finalize a contract with ATR aircraft manufacturer within the next few days to purchase turboprops, an Iranian official announced.
The contract is due to be signed and made public in Tehran this coming week, Asghar Fakhrieh, a deputy minister of road and urban development told Tasnim on Friday.
He said the business talks have been held in Italy and the initial conclusions have been already reached during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his business delegation’s recent visit to Rome.
Previous reports suggested that Iran has plans to purchase 40 turboprops built by ATR, a joint venture of Airbus and Finmeccanica of Italy.
The deal follows a contract between Iran and Airbus on a major order, which includes dozens of Airbus’s biggest-selling jets.
Iran has agreed to buy 118 Airbus jets worth $27 billion at list prices, including 73 wide-body and 45 narrow-body jets.
Fakhrieh, however, noted that the value of the contract stands between $10 and $11 billion, saying the $27 billion cited in the reports relates to the “catalogue value” of the aircraft, something the plane makers release in order to keep the real price of the deal in the dark.
