Passenger flights resumed in Tehran; more airports to reopen
Iran has authorized the resumption of passenger flights at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport from Monday, a senior aviation official said, as the country gradually restores air travel following recent security disruptions.
Hamid Reza Sanaei, deputy head for aviation and international affairs at the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran (CAO), said passenger flights would also be allowed at airports in Urmia, Kermanshah, Abadan, Shiraz, Kerman, Rasht, Yazd, Zahedan, Gorgan and Birjand starting Saturday (April 25), IRNA reported.
“We have tried by opening the airspace over central and western regions of the country to ensure that all areas have access to flights in the first phase, and in particular to make Haj flights possible. With coordination from military sectors, other regions will also gradually become operational,” he said.
Flights from Mashhad International Airport in northeast of the country are gradually resuming, he added, noting that operations have already restarted at six airports including Mashhad, Gorgan, Birjand, Zahedan, Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini.
Iran on Saturday reopened the eastern section of its airspace for international overflights following a security and safety review, after a closure imposed during the Israeli-American aggression that began on February 28.
Maqsoud Asadi Samani, secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines, said on Saturday that six airports have resumed operations.
“Since the start of the war on February 28, around 90 cargo flights have been carried out to transport medicines and raw materials for pharmaceutical production, and these flights are continuing,” Sanaei said.
“Ticket sales for passenger flights are also gradually resuming, taking into account flight safety and security,” he added.