Boeing has been cautious about entering Iran's market as other sanctions remain in place against Tehran
In this June 2003 file photo, a Boeing 747 of Iran's national airline is seen at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. Boeing Co. has confirmed signing an agreement with Iran Air “expressing the airline's intent” to buy its aircraft. In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Boeing said it signed the agreement “under authorizations from the U.S. government following a determination that Iran had met its obligations under the nuclear accord reached last summer.” (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File), photo: AP/Hasan Sarbakhshian, File
21 of June 2016 12:40:19
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Boeing Co. said Tuesday it signed an agreement with Iran Air "expressing the airline's intent" to buy its aircraft, setting up the biggest business deal between the Islamic Republic and America since the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran — if it goes through.Already, one Iranian official has said the deal could involve 100 aircraft while another has suggested Iranian airlines may purchase airplanes worth $25 billion from Chicago-based Boeing, welcome news to workers on its massive assembly plants around Seattle.However, the long-standing enmity between the U.S. and Iran, as well as other sanctions and even presidential politics still could complicate any agreement — even after last year's nuclear deal. And even if the agreement is finalized, aircraft orders are often announced at list prices, meaning the actual price tag would likely be lower as airlines typically get steep discounts.Boeing issued a statement saying that it signed the Iran Air agreement "under authorizations from the U.S. government following a determination that Iran had met its obligations under the nuclear accord reached last summer.""Boeing will continue to follow the lead of the U.S. government with regards to working with Iran's airlines, and any and all contracts with Iran's airlines will be contingent upon U.S. government approval," it said.Boeing's statement offered no further details. Fakher Daghestani, a Dubai-based spokesman for the manufacturer, declined to elaborate.Iran Air, the country's national carrier, said Monday it wanted to buy new Boeing 737s and 777s. The 737s are single aisle jets, typically used for flights of up to five hours. The 777 is a larger plane that can carry passengers for 12 hours or more.Earlier Tuesday, Iran's Transportation Minister Abbas Akhoundi said possible deals between the Islamic Republic and Boeing could be worth as much as $25 billion, on par with the country's earlier agreement with its European rival, Airbus. That deal was for 118 new planes. Iran also has ordered 20 airplanes from French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR.
The initial talks were held and I can say Boeing is negotiating with the U.S. officials and possibly the amount of our purchase is equal to Airbus."— Abbas Akhoundi, transportation minister of IranThe overall size of the proposed Boeing sale to Iran, however, remains unclear. Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, was quoted Sunday by the state-run IRAN newspaper as saying the sale would involve 100 Boeing aircraft, something the manufacturer has declined to discuss.If the deal goes through, he said the first Boeing plane could arrive in Iran in October.Some analysts were skeptical that Iran will ever take delivery of so many jets."A $25 billion deal delivered by unicorns — flying unicorns," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group Corp. "Some planes may or may not be delivered but everyone has a huge interest in inflating the likelihood of this happening. Airbus and Boeing are desperate for a growth story and the Iranians love commercial opportunities for political leverage."Aboulafia said the market faces too much competition from Etihad, Emirates and Qatar — the rapidly-growing airlines directly across the Persian Gulf from Iran.Iran Air, whose website lists 43 airplanes in its fleet, has direct flights to 35 international destinations, including London. The European Union eased its restrictions on Iran Air last week.In the past 12 months, global airlines have scheduled 150,000 flights to and from Iran, with 22.7 million available seats, according to schedule tracking service Diio Mi. It is unclear how many of those seats were actually filled. By comparison, during that same period, there were 250,000 flights to and from Poland, a country with a similar GDP but roughly half the size of the population, with 34 million available seats. The world's largest aviation market, the United States, had nearly 10 million scheduled flights.[caption id="attachment_23132" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
JON GAMBRELLNASSER KARIMI