Saudia Group distances itself from batch of 777-200ERs apparently transferred to Iran¶
Carrier insists it has ‘no relationship’ with twinjets which were withdrawn and sold in 2023.
Middle Eastern operator Saudia Group is rejecting suggestions that it supplied a batch of Boeing 777-200ERs to an Iranian company.
The company says the twinjets were sold to an entity registered “outside of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia” in June 2023.
Saudia Group says this was carried out in accordance with “applicable commercial and legal procedures” governing such transactions.
The company refers to “allegations” in various media outlets that the aircraft it formerly owned were subsequently transferred to an “entity subject to international sanctions”, without elaborating on its identity.
“Since the completion of the sale, Saudia has had no operational or commercial relationship with the aircraft,” it stresses.
It has not mentioned the number of aircraft involved, nor identified the apparent sanctioned entity.
But aviation journalist Babak Taghvaee, through his social media channel on 30 June, claimed two 777-200ERs had been transferred Tehran’s Mehrabad airport and three more were being delivered, citing sources within the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation.
While the aircraft, he said, were being delivered to Iranian carrier Mahan Air — the subject of international sanctions — they were intended for use by an Isfahan-based airline.
Taghvaee has since published photographs purporting to show some of the aircraft, cleaned of their former Saudi Arabian Airlines livery, parked in southern Iran.Subscribe to gain access to all newsAlready have a subscription?Log in.Choose your subscriptionConsidering a corporate subscription?Contact usto find out more.
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