Iranian's sign final agreement on licenced production of the An-140

Published: 12/12/1999

Valery Kozakov, acting Deputy Minister of Industrial Policy, has said that Ukraine and Iran have reached agreement on all details of the proposed licensed production of the An-140 at the Iranian"s new facility at Shakir in Isfahan, which will begin, according to Kozakov, in March 2000. Kozakov added that the first aircraft would be assembled entirely from Ukrainian parts and the Ukrainians would continue to supply a large section of the aircraft, even after the completion of Iran"s manufacturing facilities. International certification of the An-140 is still expected in early 2000. Production of the first eight An-140s, intended to replace the obsolete An-24, has already begun at the Kharkov plant in eastern Ukraine. The daily newspaper, Holos Ukrayiny, has reported that Iranian-made An-140s would retail at $7.2m and put demand in Iran at around 120, a significant rise in expectation from earlier reports, which felt the market for the aircraft, would only be 600 in total. It is also suggests a very long production run for the aircraft, which the Iranian"s have only licensed to construct 12 aircraft a year. Antonov is also in talks with French company, Reims Aviation on the joint manufacturing and marketing of the An-140. It has high hopes for the aircraft, generating various estimates of projected demand and issuing reports of orders, most recently one from Aeroflot for 50 aircraft. Aeroflot has however, has said that while discussions are taking place with Antonov no firm commitment has been made. Associated articles: www.concise.org. 3rd September 1999; 5th November 1999; 8th November 1999;

Article ID: 1206