ATR seeks other clients for Iranian aircraft

The world’s largest commercial turboprop maker ATR is in talks with alternative buyers for seven remaining aircraft which it has to deliver to Iran under a $536 million deal, the company’s Italian shareholder Leonardo says.

ATR has delivered 13 new generation ATR 72-600 aircraft ordered by Iran in 2016 but it has to secure licenses for further deliveries from the US which imposed new sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month.

The European airplane manufacturer delivered five more ATR turboprop aircraft early last month just before Washington installed the new sanctions on Aug. 6.

For more deliveries, however, the company appears to have given up on soliciting the United States, with Leonardo Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Profumo telling Bloomberg TV that ATR was seeking new customers for the aircraft.

“We are pretty confident that we will finalize the re-allocation to other countries by the end of this year,” he said.

The US decision on Iran has raised question marks over whether ATR can reach a target of stabilizing annual deliveries at 80 aircraft in 2018.

Profumo tried to play down the fallout, saying the company does not expect “any meaningful impact” from the US sanctions on Iran.