Bombardier says Iranian sales talks progressing

Reports that Bombardier is involved in launching an airline in Iran are inaccurate, the plane maker said, although it confirmed it was in talks for sales as its executive chairman visited the country. Bombardier chairman Pierre Beaudoin led a delegation of company aviation and rail executives to Iran last week, but no deal has been reached yet on sales with Iranian customers, a company spokeswoman said. Aviation Iran reported Saturday that Bombardier signed a memorandum of understanding with officials from Iran's Qeshm Free Zone on establishing an airline. The spokeswoman said Bombardier did not plan to launch and run a new airline, but she could not say specifically whether the company was holding talks to sell aircraft to an Iranian start-up. <br/>