Tehran, Iran, Dec. 27
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran has only paid 15 percent of the final price of airliners it recently purchased, the rest of the money will be paid from the tickets that will be sold for these planes, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said.
“This deserves many thanks,” Jahangiri said, moving on to lash out at the critics of the government who downplay the plane purchases, IRNA news agency reported December 27.
“Since the day we decided to buy the planes, some have been taken by grieving. How long were we supposed to continue buying second and third grade planes from the poorest of the countries?”
Iran and France’s Airbus recently finalized an agreement on the purchase of seven aircraft. It is hoped Iran will receive the planes after April 20, 2017.
Iran plans to buy about 500 aircraft, including 118 planes from Airbus, in 10 years to refurbish its ageing fleet. Iranian airliners average 25 in age.
Earlier on Dec. 11, the Islamic Republic’s flag carrier, Iran Air, finalized a long awaited contract with Boeing, the US aircraft manufacturer, to purchase 80 passenger planes, worth $16.6 billion.
