Domestic air passenger traffic registered a year-on-year rise of 16% during the last Iranian year’s first 11 months (March 21, 2022-Feb. 19), as 29.38 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 a 9% fall during the period to reach 255,630 YOY.
The surge 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 243.83 million tons of cargo were transported by air during the period, marking a 16% year-on-year rise.
Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 11.22 million of the total number of transported passengers (29.38 million), 14% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 5.55 million and 1.91 million respectively.
Mehrabad handled 97,478 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 International Airport.
Monthly Review
The IAC data also show that in the 11th month of the year (Jan. 21-Feb. 19), 2.66 million passengers were transported by Iranian airlines on domestic routes, unchanged year-on-year.
Takeoffs and landings posted a 3% decline to 22,294.
Over 23.03 million tons of cargo were handled during the month, 3% more than in the previous year's 23.44 million tons.
Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 1.21 million of the total number of transported passengers, up 2%. It handled 9,227 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than those of other Iranian airports.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 407,557 and 172,008 passengers, respectively.
A total of 657 flights were operated from Tehran to Kish during the month, transporting 89,907 passengers to top the list of air routes with the highest passenger traffic.
A total of 92,767 passengers were flown from Tehran to Mashhad during the period via 655 direct flights.
Mashhad-Tehran route came next, followed by Kish-Tehran and Shiraz-Tehran.
Average Delay of 99 Minutes Per Flight
Domestic flights in the 11th month of the year were delayed by an average of 99 minutes per flight.
Around 45% of flights were delayed during the period: The longest average delay in flights was registered by ATA Airlines with 67 minutes and the shortest by ASA Jet Airlines with 10 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.
