Mohammad Mohammadi Bakhsh said on Sunday that a prototype version of Simorgh had successfully undergone flight tests, adding that various other tests have been carried out on the aircraft in recent months to prove its airworthiness.
Mohammadi Bakhsh said the CAA has been closely monitoring the tests and has received graphs and documents containing precise information about Simorgh’s performance.
Simorgh was unveiled in May 2022 as the first Iranian light transport aircraft. The plane is a modified version of IrAn-140, an Iranian-Ukrainian joint project which is based on Antonov An-140.
The new plane carried out its first successful flight in May 2023, nearly a year after it did a fast-taxi test, PressTV reported.
The Iranian defense ministry, which is in charge of manufacturing Simorgh, said just after the test flight that it had started the process of receiving a test certificate for the plane.
Mohammadi Bakhsh said Simorgh is quite different from IrAn-140 because its engine and fuselage have been modified.
He said that a second Simorgh aircraft is being built and technicians are attaching wings, landing gears, and engines to the plane.
The official said Iran is now in control of a home-grown plane-manufacturing industry that can join partnerships with international plane-makers.
He said that Simorgh is essentially a cargo plane but can join Iran’s fleet of short-haul regional jets in the future.
Reports in recent years have pointed to major progress in Iran’s aircraft production and maintenance sector.
That has come against the backdrop of sanctions imposed on the country by the United States as Iranian airlines have been barred from purchasing new planes.
MP/
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