Dubai: Turkish Airlines’ aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) subsidiary Turkish Technic is in talks with Iranian companies to set up a joint-venture business in the country once sanctions are lifted.
“We are talking with some potential partners,” Turkish Technic Sales & Marketing Director Ozcan Bastekin told Gulf News at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday.
Talks have concentrated on a single partner that has licence to provide MRO services in Iran but is not currently operating, Bastekin said.
Turkish Technic has a history of working with Iranian carriers, providing Iran Air and Mahan Air with some services related to their Airbus.
Bastekin said any Iranian joint-venture is likely to focus on “transferring knowledge” to the Iranian workforce, training them to acquire the necessary skills.
He also said Turkish Technic is unlikely to make a significant cash investment in establishing the joint-venture, with its selling point to partner being its long-history over providing MRO services, including to parent company Turkish Airlines.
Bastekin also said Turkish Technic was close to starting joint-venture MRO operations in Bulgaria and Turkmenistan.
On Sunday, Lufthansa MRO subsidiary, Lufthansa Technic, confirmed to Gulf News it is also in talks to establish an MRO business in Iran once sanctions are lifted.
