TEHRAN - The fact that the Iran Aviation Summit 2016 is the first international meeting held in Iran on the back of the landmark nuclear deal symbolically implies that the post-sanctions Iran is open to the world.

This was a highlight in Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi’s speech in the opening ceremony of the aviation summit on Sunday as he invited all the world-class companies to step forward and invest in Iran’s air industry.

The minister said Iran currently has just 150 operational planes out of a fleet of more than 250. He added that Tehran is seeking to modernize its ageing passenger plane fleet as soon as possible.

Iran plans to sign a deal with Airbus to buy 114 civil aircraft. The deal will have an official signing when President Hassan Rouhani visits Paris on Wednesday, according to the Iranian media.

Akhoundi told the summit that Boeing could also benefit from a potential bonanza of plane orders from Iran.

The first batch of new planes is set to arrive in Tehran by March 21, he noted.

He went on to say that $250 million has been allocated to revamp
the country’s ageing fleet which has been badly hit by the Western-led sanctions over the past few years.

The minister said that the sanctions have not only affected Iranians, but also all other people in the region as well as those who had businesses in Iran.

Akhoundi stressed that Iran is planning to make its air corridors safe enough for all those who would like to pass through its sky and added that passing the Iranian airspace benefits all airlines.

On the sidelines of the summit, Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told Reuters that Iran is interested in buying 100 Boeing aircrafts.

With its geopolitical and geostrategic situation in the world, Iran plays a key role in protecting the interests of all people in the region, the deputy minister said, expressing hope that the region may restore its normality with the removal of sanctions.


Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, also said that the national aviation fleet has an average age of 20 years, which is projected to be reduced to 12 years.

**** Foreigners to seize opportunities

Sune Kjeldsen, a Danish businessman active in supplying spare parts, told the Tehran Times that “it is now easier for people like me to do business in Iran”.

Kjeldsen, who is the business development director of LEKI Aviation, said he was “sorry” that he could not “help Iran during the sanctions” and supported the idea that not only Iranians but also many foreigners who could not directly deal with Iran suffered a lot from the sanctions.

Lim Ching Kiat, another participant coming from Singaporean Changi Airport Group, also told the Tehran Times that “everything seems moving very fast” in Iran and there is a “potential opportunity for all investors”.