Over the past year, Iran-based airlines experienced numerous economic problems. Iranian government decided to cut subsidized gasoline for local airlines, and the companies were forced to increase the price of tickets by 75%. This action led to decrease in the number of air travels in Iran, because most people cannot afford to travel by plane in the current economic situations. Consequently many planes took off with vacant seats.
“At this time, we are facing with several problems in managing and offering flights to Iranians. Currency fluctuations and the growth of gasoline prices for local airlines have deteriorated the conditions in country. We aim to hold discussions with governmental organizations to find possible solutions for resolving these issues.” head of the association of Iranian airlines, Abdolreza Mousavi, told Pars Herald on Saturday.
According to local media reports, the number of air travels has been decreased by 30% over past Nowruz. Nowruz is the peak time of travels in Iran. “Currently we don’t have any official statistics in this regard, but according to decentralized studies the number of air travels has been decreased significantly in recent months, especially in Nowruz.” Abdolreza Mousavi added.
Around 1,900,000 Iranians traveled by local airlines during Nowruz, which indicates lower number in compare to past years. Iranian government has announced that an special budget will be allocated to local airlines in order to help the companies to pay their gasoline bills and debts to Oil Ministry.