Iran Airport Traffic Expands 8 Percent

Close to 57 million passengers and 552,341 tons of cargo were transported during the year, indicating a 7% and 9% year-on-year growth respectively.

As for passenger transportation, Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport was the busiest Iranian airport during the year with 143,440 takeoffs and landings and the transportation of 17.45 million passengers. 

Coming next is Mashhad International Airport that handled about 74,000 takeoffs and landings, and moved more than 10.50 million passengers, according to Financial Tribune.

Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport was the third busiest airport with 58,436 takeoffs and landings, and the transportation of close to 9 million passengers.

In terms of cargo transportation, IKIA topped the list with close to 165,172 tons, followed by Mehrabad Airport with 121,000 tons and Mashhad Airport with around 95,000 tons of cargos moved.

On the domestic front, 371,000 takeoffs and landings were registered as more than 44.28 million passengers and 325,000 tons of goods were transported domestically.

Internationally, about 85,000 takeoffs and landings were registered, as a total of 12.51 million passengers and 227,591 tons of cargo were transported to and from overseas destinations.

> Norouz Traffic

Ali Rostami, an official with IKIA, told Mehr News Agency on Friday that the number of flights at the airport during Norouz holidays (Iranian New Year holiday season), specifically from March 15 to April 4, totaled 4,686, as over 700,000 passengers were transported within the 20-day period.

Rostami added that 367,304 passengers departed and 351,594 passengers entered the country via IKIA during the period.

According to the official, delays in flights declined by more than 25% during the holidays compared with last year’s corresponding period.

Iran Airports Company is an arm of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development that manages 54 airports across the country.

> Post-Sanctions Boom

The number of flights to and from Iran rose dramatically after the removal of international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The nuclear sanctions were lifted as of January 2016 as part of a landmark deal Iran signed with world powers a year earlier.

Iran Civil Aviation Organization’s Spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said last year 48 foreign airlines were operating flights to and from Iran, out of which 18 resumed operations with Iran since the signing of the nuclear deal (July 2015).

He highlighted that restoration of Iran’s relations with other countries after the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the nuclear deal, has paved the way for Iran’s reconnection to major world destinations.

“Iran’s geostrategic location and ever-increasing market demand have always been a fertile ground for the establishment of new flights,” Jafarzadeh was also quoted as saying by CAO’s news portal.

KLM resumed flights between Amsterdam and Tehran in October 2016, after a three-year hiatus. The resumption, part of a planned Air France-KLM comeback, includes four return flights from the Dutch capital per week.

Paris-Tehran flights were also resumed by Air France earlier than the previously scheduled date in January 2016.

British Airways resumed direct flights to and from the Iranian capital on Sept. 1, 2016, after four years.

Lufthansa has been flying non-stop once again between Munich and Tehran as of July 2016. With this new connection, Lufthansa Group is expanding its daily offer with a Boeing B747-400 from Frankfurt after the removal of anti-Iran sanctions.

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana launched a new non-stop flight from Almaty to Tehran late June 2016. Flights operate three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, served by Embraer 190 aircraft.