European Airlines Resume Flights to Tehran

On Thursday, February 8, the state-run newspaper Iran reported that following the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, several European airlines are set to resume flights to Tehran. The newspaper quoted Mohammad Khodakarami, the deputy of the Civil Aviation Organization, stating that several managers from British Airways have arrived in Tehran for discussions regarding the resumption of flights. This official did not provide further details about the meeting and negotiations. According to Mr. Khodakarami, Air France and the Dutch airline KLM have also recently expressed their readiness to resume flights to Tehran. Air France announced last month that it would resume flights to Tehran in April for the first time after a seven-year hiatus. According to the Associated Press, a spokesperson for KLM stated that the airline is always looking for new destinations but has not yet made a decision regarding the resumption of flights to Tehran, which were halted in 2013. The spokesperson added, 'Currently, we have no specific plans to launch flights to Tehran. KLM is considering the new conditions arising from the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.' British Airways has also not announced a specific plan for resuming flights to Tehran, although Willie Walsh, the CEO of the airline group that includes British Airways, recently stated at a conference that the company intends to resume flights to Tehran soon. The Associated Press reminds that European airlines suspended their flights to Tehran following the imposition of Western sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. Currently, Iran Air, the state airline of Iran, operates three flights to London and two flights to Paris and Amsterdam every week. A few days ago, Iran announced that it is also considering establishing direct flights to the United States. Direct flights between Iran and the U.S. were suspended over three decades ago after the hostage-taking of U.S. embassy staff. Meanwhile, in recent months, Iran has expressed interest in purchasing a large number of passenger planes from the American company Boeing. Iranian officials have also been negotiating for the purchase of 114 passenger planes from the European company Airbus, with the contract signed on Thursday in Paris. Approximately one million Iranian-Americans live in the U.S., particularly in California. Every year, thousands of them travel to Iran and must change flights at other airports such as London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, and Dubai.