Статья с WSJ
Iranian Aircraft Deals Ready for Takeoff as Sanctions End
Tehran is seeking to renew one of the world’s oldest plane fleets
By ROBERT WALL Jan. 19, 2016 10:54 a.m. ET
DUBLIN—The removal of sanctions on Iran could unleash a wave of aircraft deals as the Persian Gulf country seeks to renew one of the world’s oldest plane fleets.
The U.S. and Western countries have agreed to lift an embargo on aircraft sales to Iran as part of a wider accord to end the country’s nuclear-weapons programs. Years of sanctions, some imposed in the wake of its revolution in 1979 rather than over the country’s nuclear program, have left Iran with one of the world’s oldest aircraft fleets.
“Decades of sanctions have affected a carrier’s ability to source spare parts and new aircraft, resulting in an average fleet age of 22 years for Iranian airlines, twice the international average,” airline consultancy OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd. said in a new report.
Iran’s transport minister, Abbas Akhoundi, on the eve of the lifting of sanctions, told a semiofficial Iranian media outlet that the country had struck a deal with Airbus Group SE to acquire 114 planes once the trade restrictions were removed. The removal of sanctions would unfreeze tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenue.
On Saturday, Airbus said it could enter into business with Iranian airlines in compliance with all international laws once sanctions are eased. The company wouldn’t address whether it was negotiating with Iran about potentially striking a deal, citing its policy not to discuss talks with existing or potentially new customers.
Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said Sunday that Iran was “a huge market” whose carriers could place 400 to 500 plane orders in the coming years.
Paulo César de Souza e Silva, who heads the commercial-airplane unit of Brazilian plane maker Embraer SA, said “there is a huge opportunity for us there,” adding that Iran has many old 100-seat planes that need to be replaced. Embraer plans to engage with potential Iranian buyers, he said, but is still checking that all obstacles to deal-making have been removed.
Iran Air, the country’s flagship airline, has a fleet with an average age of more than 25 years, according to research service AeroTransport Data Bank, though some of those aircraft aren’t actively flown. The European Union has placed restrictions on what aircraft the carrier can operate into Europe because of safety concerns with some of the aircraft.
Other Iranian carriers also have aging fleets. ATA Airlines operates planes that are more than 20 years old on average. Mahan Air’s fleet averages more than 22 years old.
Mr. Akhoundi prepared the groundwork for the country’s return to aircraft acquisitions when he visited the Paris Air Show last year, meeting with executives gathered at the industry’s big biennial bazaar. During his visit, Mr. Akhoundi vowed to spend at least $20 billion on new planes over the coming decade.
Government agencies that often back financing for aircraft exports are also gearing up to aid Iranian carriers. “We are open for business in Iran,” Gordon Welsh, the head of aerospace at the U.K. Export Finance organization told the Airline Economics conference in Dublin.
One of the challenges for Iran could become getting planes quickly. Airbus and Boeing Co. are sold out for years on some of their most popular models. That could drive the country’s airlines to rent planes from aircraft lessors. “Iran is certainly a big growth market and a natural home for leasing equipment,” said Aengus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap Holdings NV, one of the world’s largest plane-leasing companies.
For now, though, there remains some uncertainty over whether all legal obstacles to dealings in Iran have been properly removed, Mr. Kelly said. Transactions will only start once those issues are resolved.
Underpinning demand for new planes isn’t just the age of the fleet but a potential boost in travel demand as Western businesses flock to Iran to establish sales relationships. “The upside in air travel to and from and potentially via Tehran is clearly very large,” said Craig Jenks, president of air-transport consultancy Airline/Aircraft Projects Inc.
The initial demand beneficiaries are expected to be foreign airlines.Air France-KLM SA last month announced plans to resume flights to and from Tehran starting in April. Lufthansa AG’s Eurowings budget airline plans to commence a Tehran service and sister carrier Austrian Airlines is also boosting services. Emirates Airline, the world’s largest international carrier by traffic, last year boosted Iran service by adding flights to Mashhad.
British Airways is considering the addition of a Tehran service, said Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. “I am hopeful it will form part of the BA future in the very near future,” he said at the Dublin airline event, calling the lifting of sanctions “a great opportunity.”