International Flights at Tehran Airport Drop 42% After US Sanctions
Air flights from Tehran airport decreased by 42% following sanctions, with some routes such as those to China and Turkey continuing.
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
Two-way flights at Tehran’s main international airport have fallen by 42 percent since the imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iranian airlines, although some of the most popular destinations remain in operation, according to tracking data as of Wednesday.
In early September, the United States imposed sanctions on the entire Iranian aviation sector as part of a campaign that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said would “choke” the Islamic Republic economically.
Bessent stated, “If these planes land, no one will be able to refuel them, provide services to them, or sell their tickets, or they will be excluded from the dollar system.”
Since the sanctions took effect on September 23, the average number of daily international flights to and from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran has been 53, down from a previous daily average of 91, according to data from the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.
Air traffic had previously declined after Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran on February 28 led to the complete closure of the Islamic Republic’s airspace.
However, since the sanctions came into force, flights to Georgia, Oman, and Azerbaijan—which are usually regularly connected to Tehran—have ceased entirely.
Three round-trip flights were operated between Tehran and Dubai on September 23, but no flights have departed since, as the United Arab Emirates announced its commitment to the U.S. ban.
No flights have been operated between Iraq and Tehran since September 25, although Iraq’s Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that the United States had granted permission for the national Iraqi carrier to operate flights between the city of Najaf and Iran starting in October.
Despite the U.S. sanctions, some of the most in-demand routes to and from Tehran have been maintained.
The number of flights to and from China has remained steady at an average of eight flights per day.
Flights between Turkey and Tehran, by far the busiest route from Imam Khomeini International Airport, have declined by only 19 percent.
However, travelers told Agence France-Presse earlier this week that air traffic between Iran and Turkey has experienced significant disruptions.
In contrast, some airlines, such as Caspian Airlines, have increased their flights between Tehran and Turkey since the sanctions took effect.
The analysis may have excluded some flights that could not be reliably tracked, either due to the absence of aircraft transponder signals or because their departure and arrival times could not be determined.
