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Iran’s airport traffic drops 38% y/y in first five months Persian year
"This plan was devised before the [1979] revolution, but its implementation was delayed for various reasons,” he said, adding: “But we at the headquarters have followed this plan seriously and with the knowledge of our founders, we were able to bring it to the implementation stage."
There are still hurdles to getting the project going, including sourcing the right aviation fuel for the small planes. The fuel type is currently imported.
Air taxi services will serve as part of the public transport aviation sector, a key component of the Iranian aviation industry, and more needed to be done to help foster their development, Manteqi previously said in September.
“Air taxi services have been established [to launch] in several provinces, namely in North Khorasan and Hormozgan, to render​ ​services from provincial capitals​ ​to nearby town and cities, and this domain is going to be further developed,” he added.
Iranian airports registered 88,269 takeoffs and landings during the first five months of the current Persian calendar year, (March 20 to August 21), marking a 38% y/y decline, the ​Financial Tribune​ has reported. Domestic and international flights remained substantially squeezed out of the picture given the severity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, with international flights specifically seeing a 91% y/y collapse to just 862 flights in the examined period.
Despite this, IranAir, the national flag carrier continued to boost its international network, adding new flights to cities including Manchester in the UK.
Overall 8.12mn passengers were transported during the five months, representing a 52% decline, the report said.
Some 61,198 tonnes of cargo were transported by air, 57% less than in the same period of last year, Iran Airports Company (IAC) noted.
9.1.4​ Transport sector news
Tehran Metro Company opens new station, frets over mounting debts
The Tehran Metro Company has showcased its latest underground station at Milad Tower, in the west of the capital, the Tehran Municipality announced on November 16.
The municipality-owned business expects the station will bring more tourists to the famous city landmark which towers over the city. A concern right now, however, is that metro passenger numbers have dropped off amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The company said in July that its budget for the current Persian year (started March 20) was IRR27tn, but the company’s pile of debt has continued to mount.
Prior to the coronavirus crisis, the metro system in Tehran transferred more than 3mn people daily around the sprawling city of 14mn residents.
Iran Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported in July that the debt the company owed to banks and the government stood at IRR73tn ($280mn at the free market rate of IRR260,000 to one dollar ) for both its metro and overground bus services in the previous year.
Mohammad Alikhani, head of the transportation committee of Tehran said: “Tehran Metro needs around 200,000 billion ‘toman’ to complete its developments.”
He added that the amount was required for completing 10 lines, and that the price of one railway wagon was IRR200bn ($770,000).
As of 2019, the total metro network amounted to 229 kilometres in length, but extensive work has continued to connect regions including satellite towns outside the city.
44​ IRAN Country Report December 2020 www.intellinews.com