Iran cuts Airbus order for jetliners, deal now likely less than $10 billion

Flickr/Christopher Griner

IranAir has trimmed its planned order from Europe's Airbus <AIR.PA> to 100 planes, partly by dropping superjumbo A380s, the flag carrier's head said on Sunday, confirming an adjustment first reported by Reuters.

"Although the nominal value of the contract for 118 Airbus planes had been announced at $25 billion, the A380 planes have been dropped from this contract, so the value of our Airbus contract will not be more than $10 billion," said Farhad Parvaresh, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

In June, Reuters reported that doubts were growing about Iran's planned purchase of 12 A380 planes as part of its proposed Airbus order.

In September, an Iranian official told Reuters that Iran had reduced the number of airplanes it planned to buy from Airbus by a further six amid delays in U.S. regulatory approvals.

Separately, Iran's transport minister was quoted as saying on Sunday that Tehran expected the Airbus deal to be signed within days.

Flickr/Christopher Griner

"We expect the final contract to be signed this (coming) week," Abbas Akhoundi said, quoted by IRNA.

Iran signed a $16.6 billion deal for 80 Boeing <BA.N> passenger jets last Sunday and was said to be close to another for dozens of Airbus planes to complete what would be the biggest package of firm contracts with Western companies since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution.

An Iranian official told Reuters last Sunday that IranAir was at the "very final stage" of formalizing the deal with Airbus, which led Western companies back into Iran with a provisional agreement for 118 planes when Tehran emerged from global sanctions in January.

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