Domestic passenger traffic in Iranian airports registered a year-on-year rise of 24% in the current Iranian year’s first eight months (March 21-Nov. 21), as 21.32 million passengers were flown internally by Iranian airlines, new data released by Iran Airports Company show.
This is while the number of takeoffs and landings posted an 11% YOY fall during the period to 186,833.
The significant rise in passenger traffic, despite the decline in the number of flights, is because restrictions related to Covid-19 were eased after airlines had been enforcing social distancing to fend off the pandemic for over two years.
Over 176.47 million tons of cargo were shipped during the period, marking a 26% year-on-year rise.
Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport accounted for over 7.92 million of the total number of passengers, 20% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 4.24 million and 1.39 million passengers respectively.
Mehrabad handled 69,693 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than other Iranian airports.
The above figures pertain to domestic flights only, as IAC does not report on international traffic.
All international flights in Tehran are served by the Imam Khomeini International Airport and all domestic flights by Mehrabad.
Monthly Review
The IAC data show that in the eighth month of the current Iranian year (Oct. 23-Nov. 21), a total of 2.69 million passengers were transported by Iranian airlines on domestic routes, registering a 2% year-on-year fall.
Takeoffs and landings posted a 14% fall to 23,351.
Over 21.12 million tons of cargo were handled during the period, 8% less than the previous year's 23.01 million tons.
Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 1.03 million of the total number of transported passengers, down 3% YOY. It handled 8,987 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than those of other Iranian airports.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 515,026 and 171,911 passengers, respectively.
Iranian airlines operated a total of 816 flights from Mashhad to Tehran during the month ending Nov. 21, transporting 113,310 passengers to top the list of air routes with the highest passenger traffic.
A total of 111,281 passengers were flown from Tehran to Mashhad during the month under review via 814 direct flights.
Tehran-Kish route came next in terms of monthly flights, followed by Kish-Tehran and Tehran-Shiraz operations.
Average Delay of 86 Minutes Per Flight
Domestic flights in the eighth month of the current Iranian year (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) were delayed by an average of 81 minutes.
Around 33% of flights were delayed during the period: The longest average delay in flights was registered by Kish Air with 112 minutes and the shortest by Mahan Air with 49 minutes.
Technical issues are said to be the main cause of the long delays, as Iran’s aviation sector has for years been facing US sanctions that prevented it from procuring vital spare parts for repair.
According to the Association of Iranian Airlines, the country has 333 airplanes at its disposal, more than half of which are grounded, the Persian daily Shargh reported recently.
Officials and experts estimate that planes grounded at airports account for 50-70% of Iran’s total air fleet.
Hamid Ghavabesh, the former head of Iranian Airlines Association, put the number of operating aircraft at 157.
Arman Bayat, an aviation industry analyst, told the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad that the number of operational aircraft was 148, such that 44-47% of Iran's commercial aircraft were operational and the rest were grounded.
“Note that operational planes are not capable of flying for a long time; many of these planes fly only twice, the total efficiency of Iranian planes is between three and four hours; sometimes they are incapable of flying after one roundtrip flight,” Ghavabesh said.
“This is while the young planes of Iran's neighboring airlines, such as the airlines of Arab countries and Turkey, are able to fly for a full day.”
The former head of the Iranian Airlines Association noted that the average age of planes in the Arab countries and Turkey is five to six years whereas the average age of Iranian aircraft is estimated to be 28 years; some older aircraft are also among Iran’s air fleet.
“Except for the limited number of planes purchased after the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [Iran nuclear deal], there is no new aircraft in the Iranian air fleet,” he added.
Fifteen planes were purchased after JCPOA, 13 of which were small ones manufactured by ATR Aircraft. In other words, only 4.5% of Iranian aircraft are new.
Low productivity and frequent repairs of Iran’s old planes have increased the prices of air tickets; the operation of small airlines is not economically feasible, as some of them have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. They are renting or selling their old aircraft to other larger airlines.
“Supplying parts is very expensive. Purchasing aircraft parts under sanctions at times imposes a 30% higher cost on airlines. Some aircraft parts dealers take advantage of sanctions and sell substandard parts to Iranian airlines, which raise the risks of air transportation in the country,” Ghavabesh said.
Fiscal 2021-22 in Review
Domestic passenger traffic in Iranian airports registered a rise of 24% in the fiscal 2021-22 (ended March 20), as 28.03 million passengers were flown internally by Iranian airlines during the period.
Iran Airports Company’s data also show takeoffs and landings posted a 17% year-on-year rise to 304,893.
Over 232.76 million tons of cargos were shipped during the period under review, marking a 34% rise year-on-year.
Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 10.9 million of the total number of passengers, 19% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 4.61 million and 1.9 million passengers respectively.
Mehrabad handled 115,236 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than other Iranian airports.
IAC data also indicate 57% growth in the number of foreign flights passing through Iranian airspace during the year under review.
A total of 168,418 foreign flights flew over Iran's airspace during the period, which figure stood at 107,614 in the corresponding period of last year.
Notably, a total of 728,000 passengers were transported via Mehrabad International Airport during the Iranian New Year holidays or Norouz (March 16-April 2), making it the country’s busiest airport during the period under review.
The number of flights during holidays stood at 19,000, registering a 3% YOY decline.
“During the previous year’s New Year holidays, around 20,000 flights were operated, but due to travel restrictions for containment of Covid-19 pandemic, none of these flights operated at full capacity so that social distancing could be observed.”
The busiest Iranian airports after Mehrabad during this year’s Norouz holidays were Mashhad, Shiraz, Ahvaz and Isfahan international airports.
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport transported 454,426 passengers via 2,857 flights.
Around 8,868 tons of cargo were also transported with these passengers.
Moreover, 111 cargo flights were operated by IKIA, which transported 2,988 tons of freight and parcels.
