Iran to purchase 20 small airplanes from Japan

Iran’s Deputy Road and Urban Development Minister Asqar Fakhriyeh Kashan announced that his country is holding negotiations with the Japanese Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation to buy 20 small passenger airplanes, Fars News reports.

“We have held negotiations with Japan to purchase MRJ (Mitsubishi Regional Jet passenger) planes from Mitsubishi,” Fakhriyeh Kashan said on Sunday.

He explained that the MRJ planes are small aircraft with the capacity of carrying maximum 100 people which are a good choice for Iran’s Aseman airlines whose flights are mostly domestic.

Fakhriyeh Kashan also referred to negotiations with the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR on buying small planes and said Iran needs more than 20 small planes.

Japan’s Mitsubishi passenger plane manufacturing company is preparing to start a rivalry with giant aviation firms like Boeing and Airbus in Iran’s aviation and air transport market.

The company, the aviation arm of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – has been negotiating over jet sales with Iran’s flag carrier Iran Air and Iran Aseman Airlines, as Iran Air is weighing the Japanese offer to purchase of 80 70-seat Mitsubishi Regional Jets for domestic routes.

Executives from both sides also discussed a possible deal in early June during the International Air Transport Association conference in Dublin.

Late in July, Tehran and Tokyo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to further broaden mutual cooperation in the field of transportation.

The MoU was signed in a ceremony in Tokyo by Fakhriyeh Kashan and his Japanese counterpart Hiroshi Tabata.

The MoU was the outcome of the first Iran-Japan joint commission on infrastructure and transport.

Tabata welcomed the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and underlined the important role of infrastructures for Iran-Japan cooperation in future.