The Third New Airbus of Iran Lands at Mehrabad

The third Airbus aircraft purchased by Iran landed at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on Saturday, April 5, marking a development following Iran's nuclear agreement with global powers and the lifting of sanctions on Tehran. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) introduced this aircraft as the A330-200 model, quoting Farhad Parvaresh, CEO of Iran Air, who stated that the third purchased aircraft will conduct 150 flights by April 17, transporting about seven thousand passengers during this period. It was previously reported that the third new Airbus would be delivered to Iran on either March 19 or 20, but this event was delayed until today, with Parvaresh attributing the reason simply to 'some changes and developments' without providing further details. According to him, 'This Airbus will be transferred to Imam Khomeini Airport after flying in the domestic network to begin its flights to Europe. Starting from June, destinations in the Far East will also be added for this aircraft.' Iran Air, which is seeking to renew its aging fleet, signed a $10 billion contract with the European airline Airbus following the nuclear agreement and the lifting of sanctions, under which 100 aircraft will be added to Iran Air's fleet over a 10-year period. So far, three Airbus aircraft have been delivered to Iran Air, including the previous two models A330-243 and A321. Parvaresh indicated that Airbus will deliver four more aircraft of the A320 model by the end of 2017 and five more aircraft in 2018. Iran has also reached an agreement with the American company Boeing to purchase 80 passenger aircraft. Meanwhile, negotiations between Iran Air and the ATR company for the purchase of 20 aircraft are ongoing, and according to the CEO of Iran Air, these negotiations are nearly finalized.