TEHRAN- Henrik Hololei, the European Commission’s director general for mobility and transport, said the ground is prepared for the commission to expand its collaboration with Iran, especially in the light of removal of sanctions on the country.

Hololei, heading a delegation, met Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, in Tehran on Tuesday when the two officials explored avenues of cooperation, the IRNA news agency reported.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed the possibility of signing a horizontal air transport agreement in the future.

A horizontal agreement is an international agreement negotiated by the commission on behalf of EU member states, in order to bring all existing bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and a given third country in line with EU law.

Security of Iran’s aviation industry and the condition of Iranian aviation companies were also discussed during the meeting.

According to the aviation roadmap depicted by Iranian Transport and Urban Development Ministry, Iran should be a hub of air transportation over the next coming years, securing a place in the aviation industry of the region. 

Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said in January that Iran 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. 

SJ/MA