IranAir wants five more planes before sanctions

IranAir aims to take delivery of five more ATR turboprop aircraft, it said on Saturday, easing a state of limbo surrounding Western plane deals since Washington exited a nuclear sanctions pact between Iran and major world powers.

Iran’s flag carrier posted a picture on Twitter of five new ATR 72-600 planes outside the factory where they are built in Toulouse, France, and said they would soon arrive in Tehran.

IranAir CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi was in Toulouse to receive the new planes, the Islamic Republic News Agency said.

ATR, which is co-owned by Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo, has been pressing US authorities to allow it to deliver aircraft it built for Iran under a deal to reopen trade links in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear activities.

In the wake of that deal, IranAir ordered a total of 200 aircraft from Western plane-makers, including 20 from ATR.

But few have been delivered and US President Donald Trump’s decision in May to pull the US out of the nuclear deal gives most companies until mid-August to complete ongoing business with Iran before new US sanctions apply.

Plane-makers say they are unable to use this window because Washington has also revoked export licenses needed by all Western plane-makers due to their heavy use of US parts.

ATR had delivered eight planes to Iran under the deal and started building another 12. It has been lobbying the US Treasury to allow it to take advantage of the normal winddown period for Iran business by giving it temporary new licenses.

ATR declined to comment. Industry sources said the final number of planes to be delivered would be known in coming days.

The US decision on Iran has raised question marks over whether ATR can reach a target of stabilizing annual deliveries at 80 aircraft in 2018.

The plane-maker has said it will suffer financial damage if it cannot deliver the aircraft it has already produced following earlier US approvals, and is looking for alternative buyers.

Airbus said last month it would not attempt to deliver any more planes to Iran in the wind-down period. It has delivered just three of 100 ordered by IranAir.

Boeing, which had sold 80 jets to IranAir under the 2015 nuclear deal, does not plan any deliveries. Unlike the European firms, it never placed the Iranian deal in its official order book on the grounds that it never received a deposit. (Reuters)