Iran and Turkey plan joint venture airline

Iranian First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, reportedly proposed the establishment of a joint venture airline with Turkey to rationalise bilateral trade between Iran and Turkey, forecasting trade will increase from USD11 billion p/a currently, to USD30 billion p/a within the next four to five years (Alternative Airlines, 03-Nov-2009). Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reportedly welcomed the proposal. In Mar-2009, Iran and Turkey signed an MoU to increase air, land and sea transport between the countries.