US grants Airbus first chance to sell airplanes to Iran

Airbus applied for two licenses to cover its deal with Iran to ensure the fast delivery of some of the aircraft, Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon told The Associated Press. The license announced Wednesday covers the first 17 planes involved in the deal, which will be A320s and A330s, he said.

Dubon declined to offer a breakdown of how many of each model are involved in the initial sale, but said Airbus hoped to receive a second license allowing it to sell the remaining planes to Iran soon.

Iran’s U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. State television referred to an AP report on the sale.

In January, national carrier Iran Air signed agreements to buy 118 planes from Airbus, estimated to be worth some 22.8 billion euros ($25 billion). The deal included 21 A320ceos, 24 A320neos, 27 A330ceos, 18 A330neos, 16 A350-1000s and 12 double-decker A380s.

On Sunday, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, a deputy transportation minister, told reporters that he expected U.S. permission for all aircraft purchases “by the end of September” and that several airplanes would arrive by mid-March. However, he also said Iran would cut the number of Airbus planes it would buy to 112, state TV reported.

Base model A320s are listed at an average of $98 million, while A330s start at $231.5 million. That puts the value of the approved 17 aircraft in the first license around at least $1.8 billion and possibly much higher based on list prices, though buyers typically negotiate sizable discounts for bulk orders.

Most Iranian planes were purchased before the Islamic Revolution that ousted Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and brought Islamists to power. Out of Iran’s 250 commercial planes, 162 were flying in June, while the rest were grounded due to lack of spare parts.

Iran Air, whose website lists 43 airplanes in its fleet, says it has direct flights to over 30 international destinations, including London.

Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which limits its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some international sanctions, specifically allowed for the purchase of aircraft and parts. That’s set off a race between airplane manufacturers for the newly opened market, home to 80 million people.

Airbus’ announcements will be closely watched by Boeing, which has its own deal on the line. In a June letter to the U.S. Congress, Boeing said the deal involves Iran Air buying 80 aircraft with a total list price of $17.6 billion, with deliveries beginning in 2017 and running until 2025. Iran Air also will lease 29 new Boeing 737s.

Iran also has ordered 20 airplanes from French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR.

In a statement, Boeing spokesman Marc Sklar said his company believed Airbus applied for its license before it did and that the U.S. government “follows a first-in, first-out policy.”

“We look forward to receiving our license from the government shortly,” he said.

However, the Boeing deal has been criticized by American lawmakers over Iran’s “pernicious behaviour,” including launching ballistic missiles, firing rockets near U.S. warships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and briefly detaining American sailors who strayed into its territorial waters.

The U.S. presidential election could also have an effect on the sales. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to tear up the nuclear deal if elected this November.

___

Online:

Airbus: www.airbus.com

Boeing Co.: www.boeing.com

Iran Air: www.iranair.com

___

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Adam Schreck contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jon-gambrell.

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

US grants Airbus first chance to sell airplanes to Iran

What's Trending