Caspian Airlines, Kish Air and Zagros Airlines have been identified as Iranian operators exploring the viability of acquiring Sukhoi Superjets.
Speaking at the MAKS air show in Moscow, Iranian vice-president Sourena Sattari named the trio as carriers studying the regional airliner, noting: "In particular, they wanted to know how the Superjet would perform, given our specific climate and elevated terrain conditions."
He adds: "Their first impression is only positive. I think many operators would take these aircraft, provided a sound financial proposition."
At the show, Sattari headed a large Iranian government delegation looking into ways of broadening co-operation with Russia's aerospace industry.
His Russian counterpart, deputy premier Dmitry Rogozin, says serial production and availability of new commercial aircraft such as the Superjet featured prominently during talks. He adds: "We've agreed to continue consultations in that respect and hope they will bring results."
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft's president Ilya Tarasenko is confident the manufacturer will be able to supply the required number of Superjets to Iran following the annulment of international economic sanctions on the country.
"There is demand for up to 100 regional aircraft," he says. "We're looking at routes on which they could be efficiently deployed by Iranian carriers. We also consider setting up a technical support station and outsourcing production of some components for Superjets to local firms."
Russia's industry and trade minister Denis Manturov is to continue high-level talks on the matter during a visit to Tehran in December.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
