Russian manufacturer Sukhoi has signed agreements with Iran Airtour and Iran Aseman Airlines for the delivery of 20 Sukhoi Superjet aircraft each at the Eurasia Airshow, which is currently taking place in Antalya, Turkey.

While Iran Airtour was founded in 1973 as a subsidiary of Iran Air and currently operates five MD-80 aircraft mainly on domestic flights, Iran Aseman Airlines is the third-largest Iranian Airline, best known for also being the last remaining operator of Boeing 727 aircraft on scheduled passenger services.

Both airlines ordered new Western aircraft in June of 2017 after the easing of the sanctions against Iran. Most notably, 45 A320neos were ordered for Iran Airtour, and 30 Boeing 737MAX aircraft will go to Iran Aseman Airlines. However, amid the current uncertainty about whether those sanctions are going to finally be dropped or not, it remains to be seen whether those aircraft will ever be delivered. At the moment, only flag carrier Iran Air has received any new airplanes from Western manufacturers, and not a single delivery has taken place in 2018 so far. Boeing recently postponed the first Iranian delivery to 2019.

The agreements with Sukhoi show that Iranian airlines are looking for suitable alternatives to current aircraft and that Russia is going to be able to deliver these, in the shape not only of the SSJ but also of the A320/737-sized Irkut MS-21 that is currently undergoing flight testing and is expected to be certified in early 2019. In order to avoid any embargos, Sukhoi has reduced the proportion of US-made components incorporated in the Superjet to less than 10 percent.

Most Iranian airlines still suffer from not being able to take delivery of new Western airplanes due to the sanctions, and therefore operate some of the oldest fleets in the world. An exceptional example for that is Iran Aseman Airlines’ Boeing 727 fleet with an average age of 38 years.

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