Iran reopens six airports as commercial aviation resumes

Iran has reopened six airports and resumed scheduled international flights from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International (IKA) and Mehrabad airports, with Mahan Air leading the return to commercial operations, flight tracking data showed on April 18, IntelliNews confirmed.

Maghsoud Asadi Samani, secretary of Iran's Association of Airline Companies, said six airports had been reopened including Mehrabad, Imam Khomeini International, Mashhad, Birjand, Gorgan and Zahedan.

Flight tracking data from Imam Khomeini International showed Mahan Air operating the bulk of international services from April 18, with flights scheduled to Dubai, Lahore, Shenzhen, Sulaimaniyah, Beijing, Shanghai and multiple daily services to Shenzhen. The carrier was running at least four Shenzhen flights on both April 18 and 19.

Kuwait Airways was due to operate a flight from Kuwait City on April 19, marking the return of Gulf carrier services to the Iranian capital. Qatar Airways was scheduled to fly in from Hong Kong on the same day.

Armenia Airways was due to operate flights from Yerevan, while Iran Aseman Airlines had an Istanbul service and GP Aviation a Najaf flight.

Mehrabad airport was handling domestic traffic, with carriers including Iran Air, Kish Air, Zagros Airlines, Iran Airtour, Mahan Air and Iran Aseman Airlines running scheduled services to Mashhad, Kish Island, Abadan, Khorramabad, Maku and Qeshm Island. Mashhad was the single busiest domestic destination, with multiple flights scheduled throughout the day by different operators.

Airlines would need to obtain the necessary permits from the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran before scheduling additional flights, in line with standard procedure, Asadi Samani said.

Iranian airspace was largely shut down at the start of the US-Israeli war on February 28, disrupting commercial aviation across the country for more than six weeks. Iraqi Airways, Royal Jordanian, flydubai, Mahan Air and other regional carriers have been gradually restoring services to and from Iraq since April 10.

The reopening of Iranian airports comes as Tehran reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping for the remainder of the Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire. US President Donald Trump said on April 17 that a deal to end the war could be signed in Islamabad in the coming days.