Domestic air passenger traffic registered a rise of 14% in the last financial year (March 2022-23), as 32.04 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 278,282.
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 267.05 million tons of cargo were transported by air during the period, marking a 15% rise.
Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport saw the highest traffic during the period and accounted for 12.34 million of the total number of transported passengers (32.04 million), 13% more than in the corresponding period of last year.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 5.97 million and 2.07 million respectively.
Mehrabad handled 106,848 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 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 12th month of the year (Feb. 20-March 20), 2.66 million passengers were transported by Iranian airlines on domestic routes, up 2% year-on-year.
Takeoffs and landings posted a 1% decline to 22,652.
Over 23.22 million tons of cargo were handled during the month, 2% more than in the previous year's 22.67 million tons.
Mehrabad International Airport accounted for 1.12 million of the total number of transported passengers, up 8%. It handled 9,370 landings and takeoffs during the period, considerably higher than those of other Iranian airports.
Mashhad International Airport and Shiraz International Airport followed with 425,494 and 163,697 passengers, respectively.
A total of 707 flights were operated from Tehran to Mashhad during the month, transporting 95,762 passengers to top the list of air routes with the highest passenger traffic.
A total of 98,561 passengers were flown from Mashhad to Tehran during the period via 706 direct flights.
Tehran-Kish route came next and was followed by Kish-Tehran and Tehran-Mashhad routes.
Average Delay of 88 Minutes Per Flight
Domestic flights in the 12th month of the year were delayed by an average of 88 minutes per flight.
Around 35% of flights were delayed during the period: The longest average delay in flights was registered by ATA Airlines with 120 minutes and the shortest by ASA Jet Airlines with 42 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.
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.
“Eleven grounded airplanes have returned to service during the past 100 days after their repair and overhaul by local technicians,” Jafar Yazarlu, spokesman of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, said earlier in April.
The repaired aircraft included two Boeing 737, one Fokker 100, one Airbus A31, and three ATR, IRNA reported.
“Today, we in Iran locally produce 1,000 types of airplane and helicopter parts,” he said.
Iran’s aviation sector has for years been facing US sanctions that prevented it from procuring vital spare parts for repair, leaving many planes grounded and causing technical problems every now and then that result in incidents, sometimes fatal.
Hamid Ghavabesh, the former head of Iranian Airlines Association, has told the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad 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.
According to Mohammed Mohammadi-Bakhsh, the head of CAO, no aircraft is sent abroad for repairs and all the work is undertaken by local engineers.
“We are facing a severe shortage of expert manpower for repair, maintenance, design and manufacturing,” he said.
The government of Ebrahim Raisi has sought to meet the increasing demand for air travel by pursuing three strategies: buying secondhand airplanes, overhauling the grounded fleet and airplane manufacturing.
The number of Iran’s airline seats has increased by 40% during the past year, as demand has increased 2.5-fold, Mohammadi-Bakhsh said in January.
“Iran needs 550 passenger planes in its air fleet to be able to adequately meet demand,” he said in a recent meeting of government officials on the country’s air transportation, Fars News Agency reported.
“A full-blown war is being waged by world powers against the Islamic Republic in the aviation industry. We are pursuing our goals in four areas of manufacturing, repair and buying secondhand, in addition to brand new aircraft.”
The deputy head of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran for international affairs recently confirmed the country’s purchase of four Airbus A340 passenger planes.
“Recently, four Airbus 340 have entered the country, which will soon join Iran’s air fleet,” Hassan Khoshkhou was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
