Iran Aseman Airlines and Boeing today announced a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), expressing the airline’s intent to purchase 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft with a list price value of $3 billion. The agreement, signed on 18 March 2017, also provides the Iranian private airline with an option for 30 additional 737 MAXs.

According to Iran Aseman Airlines, the MOA is a result of more than a year of negotiations.

“According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, an aerospace sale of this magnitude creates or sustains approximately 18,000 jobs in the United States. Deliveries would be scheduled to start in 2022.”, Boeing said in a statement.

Boeing accordingly negotiated the MOA under authorizations from the U.S. government and is now looking to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for approval to perform the transaction.

In December 2016, Iran’s national carrier IranAir reached a deal with Boeing, concerning a total of 80 Boeing 777 and 737 aircraft. The deliveries are to begin in April 2018, however, it may take effect earlier.

Iran Aseman Airlines has prior to this date hardly been linked to a potential Boeing deal, even though the airline had been in negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer for over one year. The eyes were instead directed on Sukhoi, Mitsubishi and Embraer, none of them having announced a deal with Aseman so far.

In February 2017, Iran Aseman Airlines announced to lease 7 Airbus A320s from an Irish lessor. In December 2016, EASA blacklisted Aseman from operating flights within Europe.

Photo: Tasnim News Agency