Since the past few years, the economy of Iran has been in a turmoil and problems are faced by all the citizens. To worsen things further, the Government of the Islamic Republic has reduced the subsidy provided to gasoline and the local airline companies were worst hit by this move.
As a result of the cut in subsidy, airlines were forced to increase the ticket fares by nearly 75%. Due to this, the number of air travelers dropped drastically and the high inflation also reduced the number of people traveling by air. Airlines were forced to fly with most of their seats going empty as there were no takers for the seats.
The head of the Association of Iranian Airlines, Abdolreza Mousavi said that they are facing a tough time in providing air travel for the air travelers of Iran. The sudden changes in price and the steep hike in oil prices have further worsened the economic conditions prevailing in Iran. There are only a few passengers who are still traveling by air.
Abdolreza Mousavi said that they are in talks with various government entities to arrive at solutions so that the air travel market of Iran is restored. He spoke to journalists at a conference held by Pars Herald. Compared to the previous Nowruz or Persian New Year, the number of air travelers fell by a drastic 30%.
Although there are no official reports on the number of air travelers available, estimates indicate that there have been a significant decline in air passengers over the past few months. The studies have been conducted by various decentralized and third party agencies which indicate the steep fall in air travel.
The number of air travelers in local airlines during this Nowruz stood at around 1,900,000, which can be seen as a deep fall. The Government of Iran plans to announce a special budget which will be in favor of the local airlines and they are hoping that the special budget would be made use of to clear the fuels debts and bills that are pending.
