Ukraine International to fly to Iran

TEHRAN, Nov. 23 (MNA)-- Ukraine International Airlines (Kiev) will launch the Kiev-Tehran route starting on January 26, 2012 per Airline Route. The new route will be flown with Boeing 737-500s. A senior Ukrainian aviation official says on June that Iran and Ukraine plan to cooperate on the construction of 78 Antonov-148 aircraft. Dmitry Kiva, the chairman of the Kiev headquarters of the Antonov Aerospace Company, made the remarks at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday, and expressed hope that all the planes would be manufactured by the end of 2011, DPA reported. Kiva stated that Antonov and the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company have signed a contract to manufacture the planes. He went on to say that Antonov will produce the twin-engine mid-range turboprop for the mid-range jet airliner. The Iranian Defense Ministry has been manufacturing a licensed version of the Antonov-148 since 2009. The manufacturing cost of each An-148 unit, which can carry between 68 and 99 passengers, is estimated at between 18 and 22 million dollars. Iran is cooperating with Ukraine and Russia in the production and operation of the Antonov An-140 airliner, which can carry 52 passengers. After purchasing the production license for the An-140 from Ukraine in 2000, Iran built its first Iran-140 passenger plane in 2003. First test-flown in 1997, the An-148 has a range of 2,100 to 4,400 kilometers.