Toulouse, February 1, 2016: ATR and Iran’s national flag carrier Iran Air today signed in Teheran a deal for the introduction of 40 newest generation ATR 72-600s. The agreement includes firm orders for 20 aircraft plus 20 options, and is valued at one billion euro.
The signature of the deal follows the commercial discussions held in the last days in Rome and Paris, on the occasion of the visit of the President of Iran, H.E. Mr. Hassan Rohani, and the Minister of Transportation of Iran, Mr. Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi. During the negotiations, the Italian and French states played an important role to achieve the signing of this deal, through the participation of their export credit agencies, respectively Sace and Coface.
The one billion euro deal marks the arrival of the newest Turboprop-generation from ATR in Iran, where the first aircraft have been operating since 1992. This freshly open market provides a strong potential for the development and expansion of domestic traffic and routes.
Patrick de Castelbajac, Chief Executive Officer of ATR, declared: “We are honored to take part in this new era in Iran by providing the national airline with aircraft that will strongly contribute to reinforce and boost regional transportation across the country. We are pleased to offer to the passengers of Iran Air the highest standards of comfort and reliability, as well as the outstanding operational flexibility of the ATR 72-600s”. The ATR 72-600 has a passenger capacity of 68 – 78 seats. The max range with full passenger load is 900 nm (1665 km).
About Iran Air: Iran Air was created in 1961 from the merge of former Iranian Airways and Pars Airways, and commenced its activities in April 1962. Among the reasons of its creation, there was the need to answer to the demand of domestic air travel. At present, Iran Air flies to 35 international and 25 domestic destinations.
About ATR: Founded in 1981, ATR is a world leader on the market for regional aircraft with 90 seats or less. Since its creation, ATR has sold over 1500 aircraft. With over 28 million flights, ATR models equip the fleets of over 200 airlines in nearly 100 countries. ATR is an equal partnership between two major European aeronautics players, the Airbus Group and Finmeccanica, Italy. Its head office is in Toulouse. ATR is ISO 14001 certified. For additional information, log on to www.atr-aircraft.com.
Source: ATR