Iran, Russia finalising talks to build airliners in Iran
21 Jun 2008
Tehran: Iran and Russia have reached a preliminary agreement on the joint production of Russian Tu-204 and Tu-214 medium-haul passenger airliners in Iran, the national news agency, Fars, said on Saturday. It was citing a senior industry official.
"The manufacturing of Russia's updated Tu-204 and Tu-214 passenger aircraft in Iran was put on the agenda after Russian experts studied the technological capabilities and human resources of the Iran Aviation Industries Organization," Ali Akbar Ghazi Moradi, IAIO deputy executive director, was quoted as saying.
According to Moradi, Russia and Iran would finalise talks on a project to build a hundred 210-seat airliners over the next 10 years for the Iranian fleet. The two nations would also discuss production of spare parts, test flights and the construction of a maintenance centre in the country.
"The agreement between Iran and Russia will be signed in the near future," Moradi was quoted as saying.
Earlier reports had said that Russia and Iran planned to sign a $2.5 billion contract in 2009 for the delivery of 100 Tu-204 and Tu-214 aircraft starting 2010.
Iran currently uses Tu-204, Tu-154, An-72, Yak-42 and other Russian built airplanes.
