Page 37 - IRANRptAug19

many would-be travellers from international and domestic air travel.
In all, during the third Persian month Khordad (May 22 - June 21), Iran saw 31,415 takeoffs and landings of both domestic and international flights.
On Iran’s international flights, some 5,184 takeoffs and landings were registered, down 9% y/y. Exactly 771,272 passengers and 14,995 tonnes of cargo travelled through international routes during this time.
Overall during the 30-day period, more than 3.82mn passengers and 36,823 tonnes of cargo travelled through Iran’s airports, indicating a 1% decline in passenger transport y/y. Cargo transport remained unchanged as exports continue to remain strong via airports.
During the month of Khordad, some 26,231 takeoffs and landings were made by domestic flights in the period mirroring the 6% decline y/y of international flights.
More than 3.05mn passengers and 21,827 tonnes of cargo were transported domestically, translating to a 1% decline y/y as trucking is cheaper per kilometre travelled.
9.1.4 Transport sector news
The arrival of a passenger train from Tehran in the eastern Turkish city of Van on the morning of June 25 signalled the restart of train services between Turkey and Iran.
It took around 21 hours for the train to reach Van with 79 Iranian passengers on board, according to Hurriyet Daily News. The relaunched service, which offers a train with a 180-passenger capacity, is to operate once a week from Tehran to Van, and vice versa.
The service was suspended in 2011 due to security concerns over clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara. There are hopes a Tehran-Ankara train service will start relatively soon.
The service offers a stop at Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran. Van, located near the Iranian border, is a tourist attraction offering natural beauty and historic monuments. Iranian tourists often arrive there in large numbers, especially during Iran's national holidays. Mehrdad Nasseri, the head of the department of tourism at Iran’s Raja Rail Transportation Company, reportedly told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency news service: “These [train] services will continue this way. We have come on this train with 79 passengers. This is a good number but we hope that this number increases. We want to increase the number of [weekly] services by informing passengers and advertising [the service]. We believe that with the number of services increasing, the cooperation between Iran and Turkey will also develop.
The governments of Tajikistan and Iran have agreed on financing and completing the Istiklol Tunnel near Dushanbe, the Tajik Telegraph Agency reported on June 30.
The tunnel is part of an Ahmadinejad-era highway vision, which would stretch from the port of Chabahar, through Afghanistan, passing Dushanbe and heading into Chinese controlled East-Turkestan. The route was originally financed jointly by the Iranian and Tajiki governments in 2014, but funds dried up in 2015 after the tunnel was only half built.
It is estimated that each government will need to invest an additional $4mn to finish the long-delayed tunnel, which will be designated for ventilation and fire-fighting systems needed to bring the tunnel up to international standards.
37 IRAN Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com