Iran’s Aseman Airlines says it is working on a plan to renovate its fleet by procuring a series of planes from the world’s largest aerospace corporation Boeing, European aviation giant Airbus and even Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft builder.
Hossein Alaei, the head of Aseman Airline, has been quoted by the domestic media as saying that his company would soon acquire seven Airbus planes through a leasing scheme.
Alaei said talks to the same effect had already started and were being pushed forward.
Meanwhile, Reuters in a report quoted unidentified industry sources as confirming that Aseman – Iran’s third largest airline by fleet size – had agreed to lease seven Airbus jets.
The sources added that the leasing contract was not connected to a major plane purchase deal that Iran was pursuing with Airbus.
An Airbus spokesperson also confirmed to Reuters the planes would be provided to Aseman through a leasing deal, adding that the deal had been sealed through a third party.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Alaei said that his company had conducted independent talks with Boeing and Airbus to procure planes.
Talks with certain other plane providers have also been carried out, Alaei continued.
“So far, representatives of Embraer and Sukhoi have visited Iran at the invitation of Aseman Airlines and carried out trial flights,” he said. “The last such trial flight involved a Sukhoi Superjet 100 that was carried out in Tehran last week.”
Alaei further emphasized that Aseman had already added three Airbus planes and two Boeing aircraft to its fleet over the past two years.