Will new Airbus delivery help Rouhani's re-election bid take off?
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has delivered its first passenger jet to Iran under its $18 billion contract with the Islamic Republic.
Finally, and against all odds, Iran received on Jan. 12 the first passenger jet purchased from European aircraft maker Airbus. The move is a success for moderate President Hassan Rouhani, especially as he faces a bid for re-election in May.
The Airbus jetliner that landed in Tehran Jan. 12 is the first brand-new Western passenger jet delivered to Iran in decades. The country’s current fleet is mostly comprised of planes purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and thus considered very old.
Under the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers, sanctions that have prevented Western aircraft manufacturers from selling planes to Iran were lifted. In this vein, Iran in December finalized a deal with Airbus worth $18 billion to purchase 100 new planes. Under the deal, Iran will receive 46 Airbus A320 planes, 38 A330 planes and 16 A350 XWB aircraft over the coming decade. Tehran has also signed a similar deal with Boeing for 80 planes as well as 20 turboprop engines with Europe's ATR.
The delivery of the brand-new jet to Tehran was welcomed by Reformist and moderate news agencies and news sites, which described it as the fruit of the nuclear deal. Meanwhile, conservatives and hard-liners sought to downplay the importance of the development, which is among the first tangible results of the nuclear deal for ordinary Iranians.
