Iran Air Denies Tripling Domestic Flight Ticket Prices

Iran's national airline, Iran Air, has denied reports from various news agencies regarding a threefold increase in ticket prices for its domestic flights. Hossam Ghorbanali, the spokesperson for this state-owned company, announced on Sunday, October 1, that the prices for flights at the beginning of this year were based on last year's rates, and these prices changed after some time. Mr. Ghorbanali further stated: 'For example, the price of the Tehran-Mashhad flight, which was 1,370,000 tomans, increased to 2,700,000 tomans after price hikes.' Some Iranian media reported yesterday that the ticket prices for Iran Air on certain domestic routes have increased two to three times since the beginning of this year. These media outlets reported that the company has recently offered flights on some busy routes with a '100 percent' price increase. According to these reports, the price for the Tehran-Ahvaz flight, which had previously increased from 1,200,000 tomans to 2,400,000 tomans a few months ago, is now being sold for 4,300,000 tomans. However, the spokesperson for Iran Air attributed the prices mentioned in the reports to the difference between regular and 'business' class flights, stating that the difference between these two types of flights is '75 percent.' Nevertheless, he confirmed that some airlines are selling flights from this company at higher prices, which should be addressed. Sudden increases in domestic flight prices in Iran have previously made headlines and, in some cases, have drawn the attention of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In these instances, despite officials' denials and even temporary halts on selling tickets at higher prices, price increases have been implemented after some time.