Data from 2016 and 2017 shows noticeable improvement in traffic at Tabriz airport with 10% growth both in the number of flights and passengers.
Based on the latest report by East Azarbaijan Airports Company, the progress came following negotiations with various airlines aiming at extending Tabriz airport operations.
In 2017, a total of 15,600 flights were handled by the airport up from 14,200 in 2016, Mostafa Safaei, head of the company said.
"Outbound flights saw a significant 25% increase from 1,932 to 2,423 in the time period in question," the official website for Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company quoted the official as saying.
The number of foreign passengers grew from about 250,000 in 2016 to over 300,000 in 2017, marking a 22% hike.
According to the statistics, domestic travelers were about 16.4 million in 2017, showing an 8% rise compared with the figure in the previous year which stood at 15.2 million people.
Domestic passengers were transported by over 13,000 flights in 2017. The number of flights rose by 7% compared to the registered record of 12,000 in 2016.
Figures released in cargo transportation show that some 4.3 million kilograms of goods were carried by the flights marking a 16% increase compared with the 3.7 million kg in 2016.
Tabriz International Airport currently operates 50 regular domestic and foreign flights, to Tehran, Mashhad, Kerman, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Asalouyeh, Kish and Rasht cities inside the country and Germany, Turkey and Iraq outside the borders.
