Iran's Domestic Air Travel Sector Reveals Signs of Recovery

Latest figures released by Iran Airports Company indicate a partial recovery in airports' traffic in the month to May 21, compared with the same period of last year, when the sector was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, figures are substantially lower compared with the same period of 2019. 
Iranian airports' domestic passenger traffic increased from 1.3 million in the second month of last year to 1.67 million during the corresponding period of the current Iranian year. 
Takeoffs and landings posted a substantial growth of 60%, from 14,410 to 22,918. 
Over 12,600 tons of cargos were handled during the month under review, considerably higher than the previous year's 8,838 tons. 
Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 659,000 of the total passenger traffic, which is 20% higher than the same period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Kish International Airport came next with 246,000 and 157,000 passengers, respectively. 
Mehrabad handled 8,714 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.

Congested Routes 

As per the figures, airlines operated 669 flights from Kish to Tehran during the month ending May 21, transferring 72,053 passengers from the southern island to the capital. 
During the period, 69,336 passengers were transferred from Tehran to Kish Island via 669 direct flights to put the route on top of the most congested air routes during the period.
Tehran-Mashhad flights came next in the list in terms of the highest number of monthly flights, followed by Tehran-Ahvaz and Tehran-Shiraz. 
Flag carrier IranAir operated 2,265 domestic flights during the second month of the year, outperforming other airlines. 
Iran Aseman Airlines followed with 1,550 flights, Ata Airlines with 1,380 and Iran Airtour with 921 during the month. 
Pars Air topped the list of airlines in terms of delayed flights. Nearly 51% of Pars Air's flights were delayed during the month. Saha Airlines and Karoun Airlines came next with 20%.  
Mahan Air and Fly Persia registered the lowest number of flight delays to top the list of air carriers. Nearly 95% of their flights were operated on time. 
The report also includes data on the cancellation of Iranian airliners' flights. As per the report, 49% of Iranian airliners' planned flights were canceled during the month under review.
Mahan topped the list, with a cancelation rate of 76% during the month under review. It was followed by Sepehran Airlines, with 66%, Taban Airlines with 65% and Zagros Airlines with 64% cancelation. 
Saha Airlines, ATA and Pars Air recorded the best performance in this regard. 
Air travel and tourism have been the hardest-hit industries by 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.
Even though figures indicate a slight market recovery in the last month of the year, Iranian aviation officials believe that the sector needs at least until 2023 to make a comeback.

Overflights

Statistics released by Iran Airport Company indicate strong growth in the total number of foreign flights using Iranian airspace during the month to May 21.
A total of 10,084 foreign flights passed through Iran's airspace during the month, the figure stood at 4,389 during the same period of the previous year.
“The decline in global demand for air travels also had 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.