SAEDNEWS: Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) rejected reports that its passenger traffic has fallen because of regional tensions caused by the assassination of ex-Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran more than a month ago.
According to SAEDNEWS, CEO of Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) Saeed Chalandari said on Tuesday that a number of foreign airlines had asked for their flights to be rescheduled from night to day after Haniyah assassination.
“There has been no reduction or change in IKA flights and only some flight schedules have been changed from night to day,” stated Chalandari.
Chalandari said flights rescheduling was not a decision of IKA or Iran’s aviation authorities, adding that the airport has agreed to requests by international airlines as part of its policy to help them in the current situation.
Regional tensions have been high since Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh on July 31 as Iran has promised it will definitely respond to the move.
International airlines have cancelled or suspended flights to the region, especially to airports in the Israeli occupied territories of Palestine.
Chalandari said that only Germany’s flag carrier airline Lufthansa had cancelled its flights to Iran and several other countries.
He said that passenger traffic to and from IKIA increased by up to 14% in the calendar year to March compared to the previous year.
