Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, says IranAir (IR, Tehran Mehrabad) has yet to make a decision concerning the possible lease of three A350-900s from SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International).
Last week, Sri Lanka's Business Times quoted officials in Colombo as saying Iran Air's CEO Farhad Parvaresh and an unspecified Iranian Minister had held cordial talks with Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Public Enterprise Development, Eran Wickramaratne, and other ministry officials concerning the Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) machines as well as a possible codeshare agreement between the carriers.
With the A350 no longer a part of its longterm business plans, SriLankan has attempted to shed itself of its seven unwanted A350-900s, three of which it will lease from AerCap with the remainder due directly from the manufacturer. Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) has also been courted concerning its interest in the twinjets.
For its part, Iran Air plans to acquire sixteen of the larger A350-1000s under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with Airbus earlier this year. The deal also includes twenty-one A320ceo family jets; twenty-four A320neo family jets; twenty-seven A330ceo family jets; eighteen A330neo (-900) jets; and twelve A380-800s. The A380 aspect of the order is, however, in jeopardy Reuters has reported. The Iranians state the A380 was simply an option in the order which was put there in part for political reasons and which can be converted to other aircraft models if need be.
