Foreign Destinations
Iranian airlines fly through three continents. There are 34 foreign destinations in Asia, 17 foreign destinations in Europe, and one foreign destination in America. The strategic geographical location of Iran in the Middle East facilitates its access to east Europe and west Asia. This location is in the interconnection of Europe, Asia and Africa. Iran has 23 foreign destinations in the Middle East, which includes most of the Arab countries.
Active Airports in Iran
According to the report by the Iranian airports organization, 57 airports are announced as active in 2020. 15 of them provide international services for foreign airlines as well. Government support of airport construction attracts more passengers and this industry is flourishing in Iran.
Active Airlines
The following exhibit demonstrates the number of active airlines from 2004 to 2024 in Iran. There are twenty-three active local airlines on internal and external routes in Iran in 2020. The development of Iran’s aviation industry has had a clear upward trend and we expect it will keep its pace in the following years. It resulted from various factors such as government support of the national aviation industry, high demand for Iran’s market, an increase in the number of passengers for local and international routes, low labor costs etc.
Fleet size
Because of the development of the aviation industry in Iran and an increasing number of Iranian airlines, demand for new aircraft increased during this decade, which is illustrated in the following chart. After the JCPOA agreement was signed, Iran ordered 200 new commercial aircraft from Boeing and Airbus which exhibit its potential for growth. It is important to mention that the total number of commercial aircraft owned by Iranian airlines in 2020 is reported to be 322.
Total Flights
According to the IATA and Iranian aviation organizations reports, the upward slope of the number of Iranian flights shows the great need of the Iranian community compared to the international community organizations. However, this trend deteriorated because of important events such as the withdrawal of the US from JCPOA and the pandemic of COVID-19. It climbed shortly. We expect this trend to keep its growth pace steady for the following years.
Passengers
An increasing number of passengers in previous years demonstrated Iran’s market as a demanding market in the aviation industry. However, there was some aberration in this trend resulting from the withdrawal of the US from JCPOA and the pandemic COVID-19. There is a high, steady demand for air transportation.
PROS & CONS OF BUSINESS IN IRAN
Absolute increase in O-D Journeys (2018, Million, Year-on-year)
The increase in the number of Iranian passengers resulted from various factors such as government support of the national aviation industry, the recent purchase of new commercial aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, and also cost-efficient air transportation rather than railroads, buses and private cars.