The Iranian government has approved a plan by the country’s Airports and Air Navigation Company (IAC) to cut its overflight fees to 50 percent, Iran’s Transportation Minister Mohammad Eslami said.
The minister further said that the government has been working with the Iranian armed forces to set up direct flight corridors to further assure foreign airlines about the safety of flying through the Iranian airspace.
The comments came hours after IAC chief Siavosh Amirmokri said that the number of transit flights through Iran had declined by nearly a half compared to 2019 to 400-450 flights per day this year.
Amirmokri added, however, that flying through the Iranian airspace had improved from lows seen early last year when the spread of the coronavirus caused a major recession in the global aviation industry.
He said that transit flights through Iran would restore to levels seen before the mistaken downing of a Ukrainian airliner in the country in January last year which led to 176 deaths.
The incident, which came amid high military tensions between Iran and the United States, caused major airlines to avoid using the Iranian airspace for a short period.
Based on estimates by aviation experts the average earnings per flight from the Iranian airspace has previously been about $800.
Based on the new proposal, Iran Airports Company would be allowed to increase the already 30% discount on its overflight fees to 50% to attract foreign airlines to the country's skies.
According to the data released by the IAC, around 1,000 flights used to pass through the Iranian airspace on a daily basis before the pandemic.