Iranian airports' domestic passenger traffic during the first 10 months of the Iranian fiscal year (March 22, 2020-Jan. 19) declined by 42% year-on-year to 20.41 million, according to the latest report published by Iran Airports Company.
Over 161,444 tons of cargos were handled during the 10 months under review, which show a 39% drop compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The IAC report also shows that airports in Iran handled 226,534 landings and takeoffs during the period, posting a 23% YOY fall.
Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 7.53 million of passenger traffic, 39% lower than the same period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Kish International Airport came next with 2.39 million and 1.7 million passengers, respectively.
Mehrabad handled 81,889 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than other Iranian airports.
IAC's data do not include figures on Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, which account for the largest portion of international flights operated to/from Iran.
Monthly Stats
As per the figures, close to 2.104 million passengers were transported domestically during the 10th month of the current fiscal year (Dec. 20, 2020-Jan. 19), indicating a 38% year-on-year drop.
Mehrabad International Airport topped the list of Iranian airports in terms of domestic flights during the one-month period. The airport handled 34.57% of landings and takeoffs.
Landings and takeoffs decreased by 9% to 26,299 during the 10th month of the year. Cargo transportation also experienced a 26% decline to 18,948 tons, IAC’s data show.
The numbers, however, show signs of hope for the industry, compared with the previous month.
Accordingly, airports in Iran hosted 2.104 million passengers in domestic flights during the month, which is 22% higher than the month before. Landings and takeoffs also increase by 11% and 23% respectively.
Congested Routes
As per the figures, airlines operated 664 flights from Kish Island to Tehran during the month to Jan. 19, transferring 64,368 passengers from the island to the capital city.
About 67,549 passengers were also transferred from Tehran to Kish Island by 661 direct flights to put the route at the top of most congested air route during the 10th month of the year.
Tehran-Mashhad flights ranked second in terms of the highest number of monthly flights, followed by Tehran-Ahvaz and Tehran-Shiraz routes.
Cancelations
The report also includes data on the cancellation of Iranian airliners' flights. As per the report, 43% of Iranian airliners' planned flights were canceled during the month to Jan. 19. The cancellation rate was 48% during the month.
Sepehran Airlines topped the list, with a cancelation rate of 64% during the month under review. It was followed by Mahan Air, with 63%, Taban Airlines with 62%, ATA Airlines with 54% and Iran Airtour with 49% cancelation.
Meraj Airlines, Qeshm Air and Kish Air recorded the best performance in this regard, as their cancellation rate stood at 22%, 28% and 29%, respectively.
Hardest-Hit by Pandemic
Air travel and tourism have been the hardest-hit industries in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the impact of coronavirus and multiple government travel restrictions sweep throughout the world, many airlines have already been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants.
Iranian aviation officials believe that the sector needs at least three years to make a comeback.
“The decline in global demand for air travels have also made a negative impact on Iranian airports' revenues. Revenues from air passenger traffic and aircraft flying over Iran’s airspace have decreased by 80% since the coronavirus outbreak,” says Siavash Amirmokri, managing director of Iran Airports Company.
Between 750 to 800 flights used to pass Iran's airspace each day before the outbreak of the virus. The number has currently declined to 130, according to the official.
Amirmokri said the pandemic has decreased the number of international flights by 50-60% around the world.
As the impact of the coronavirus and multiple government travel reactions sweep throughout the world, many airlines have been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants.
Non-Aviation Revenues
Amirmokri stressed on non-aviation revenues, as he believes these revenues have the potential of propping up the sector during the ongoing stagnation.
“Statistics indicate that non-aviation revenues had a 10% share of total revenues earned by major Iranian airports in the fiscal 2019-21,” he said.
Iran Airport Company has recently installed a comprehensive retail platform in 11 airports across the country, in an attempt to supervise the operations of duty-free shops and contractors.
"Unfortunately, some retailers have failed to settle their debts to airports in recent years ... The new platform helps enhance the transparency of contracts and allows airport officials to receive debts from contractors," he said.
Iran Airports Company hopes to recover about 50% of the delayed debts by March 2021, using the newly-installed platform.
Noting that overflight and airport services’ fees are the only sources of income for Iran Airports Company, Saeed Akbari, an official with Iran Airports Company said it is facing a severe resource crunch.
“IAC is a government-run company and does not have the option of resorting to downsizing. On top of that, our employees are mostly the elites of the aviation industry so we can’t afford to lose them,” he said.
Akbari stressed that even when the coronavirus outbreak ends, it would take a long time for the company to recover from this latest blow.
“The company may have to stop its ongoing development projects and cancel new contracts or implement pay cuts to stay afloat,” he was quoted as saying by the Persian newspaper Etemad.
