Although the United Nations sanctions still exist, Airbus has announced that it has gone ahead in talks with Iraqi officials, reported Khaleej Times. The contract would be worth $2 billion for 15 to 20 airplanes and an additional $1 billion in spare parts and spare engines.
Airbus’ commercial vice-president, Habib Fekih, said that “We are respecting sanctions whether they are imposed by the UN or the US and waiting for them to be lifted. We cannot violate these constraints because we use some US parts in our airplanes.” Fekih also said that Iraq was considering changing all its aircraft to Airbus. However, there is a fear that the US might try to spoil the deal with some sort of deal.
The UAE’s Dubai-based Emirate airline is also expected to sign an agreement with Airbus to purchase the new A3XX aircraft. The deal is potentially worth $1.7 billion. Seven of the aircraft would be delivered before year’s end. Meanwhile, Dubai International Airport is expected to begin renovations to accommodate the A3XX aircraft, which is a much larger plane. — (Albawaba-MEBG)
