SAEDNEWS: The Republic of Azerbaijan has resumed direct flights to Iran after several years, with new routes connecting Baku to the cities of Tabriz and Tehran.
Ali Alizadeh, the Republic of Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Iran, announced on his social media page that the first direct flight of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) on the Baku–Tabriz–Baku route was carried out on Friday evening following an order by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The flights will initially operate twice a week, the envoy said.
He added that starting Saturday, Azerbaijan Airlines will also resume its Baku–Tehran–Baku service.
The resumption of direct flights comes as relations between Tehran and Baku have recently entered a normalization phase.
Over the past year, bilateral ties improved following the official visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Azerbaijan and the execution of an assailant who attacked the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tehran in January 2023.
The assailant was hanged in May after an Iranian court found him guilty of first-degree murder of an Azeri national at the embassy with a firearm, illegal purchase and possession of an assault rifle and a handgun, and disorderly conduct.
One person was killed and two others injured after the assailant opened fire at the embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tehran on January 27, 2023.
