A high-ranking Iranian aviation official says the Islamic Republic will add 40 new passenger planes to its national fleet in the next few months.
Managing Director of Iran Airtour Airline Sirous Baheri said on Tuesday that twenty Ukrainian-made Antonov An-158 regional jet aircraft and twenty domestically-manufactured Iran-140 planes will be in service in the next two months.
The Antonov An-158 is a stretched fuselage version of the An-148 passenger aircraft. It has a maximum range of 4,000 kilometers (miles) and can accommodate 99 passengers. The maiden flight took place on April 28, 2010.
The An-158 design allows developing on its basis a row of new airplanes including VIP versions, freighters and special-purpose airplanes for civil and military transport aviation.
On July 8, Head of Iranâ„¢s Civil Aviation Organization Hamid Reza Pahlevani said that the country is designing an indigenous twin-engine turbojet aircraft, which can seat 150 passengers.
The expansion of Iran’s civil aircraft fleet comes despite the US-led sanctions against the country’s civil aviation industry since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
The sanctions ban international companies from selling aircraft or their spare parts to Iran.
Iran is currently cooperating with Ukraine and Russia in the production and operation of the Antonov An-140 airliner, which can carry 52 passengers.
After purchasing the production license for the An-140 from Ukraine in 2000, Iran built its first Iran-140 passenger plane in 2003.
MP/KA
Republished with permission from: Press TV