Mehrabad Airport Traffic Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels: Report

Date: 08 August 2020 - 23:44

News ID: ۸۱۵۰۸

TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Air traffic at Iran’s main airport for domestic flights has returned to vibrant conditions seen before the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic in the country.
A Thursday report by the official IRNA news agency said the number of flights recorded a day earlier at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport had surged to 357 for more than 35,000 passengers.
That shows a nearly six-fold increase compared to figures seen in late March when restrictions imposed by the Iranian government to curb the spread of the pandemic had caused a significant decline in air traffic at Mehrabad.
The number of daily flights at the airport hit a low of 90 for 5,000-7,000 passengers during the New Year travel season in late March.
However, the airport recorded 180 inbound flights and 173 outbound flights on Wednesday, according to a spokesman who said the day was one of busiest on record for the airport in the recent months.
The increased domestic flights could mean that Iranian airlines are well on their path to recovery despite a major crisis affecting the global aviation industry because of the pandemic.
It comes as the Iranian government has relaxed its broad restrictions meant to curb the coronavirus in a bid to prop up an economy that has suffered both because of the disease and due to American sanctions.
Authorities at Mehrabad airport said they have a series of strict measures in place to control the implementation of hygiene protocols meant to protect passengers against the disease.