Iran partially reopens airspace for international flights
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Iran reopens parts of its airspace for overflights after ceasefire with "Israel", but flights to major airports, including Tehran, remain suspended.
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In this photo released by Imam Khomeini Airport City, an Iranian Mahan Air plane carrying Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines lands at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 (Saeed Kaari/IKAC via AP)
Iran has partially reopened its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with "Israel", though flight restrictions remain in place over large parts of the country, an Iranian official announced Saturday.
"In addition to the eastern half of the country's airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights," Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency.
Overflights resume, but key airports still closed
Despite the expanded access for overflights, flights to and from airports in the northern, southern, and western regions of the country, including Tehran’s Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remain suspended, Akhavan noted.
"All fellow citizens are requested not to go to airports located in the northern, southern, and western regions of the country," he stated, calling on travelers to rely exclusively on official channels for flight updates.
The reopening comes after Iran resumed use of its eastern airspace on Wednesday, in the wake of a ceasefire that ended 12 days of an Israeli war on Iran.
The airspace had been fully closed on June 13 after Israeli airstrikes triggered retaliatory missile attacks from Iran, grounding nearly all flights across the country.
Mashhad and Chabahar airports resume limited operations
As of Saturday, airports operating include Mashhad in eastern Iran, targeted by Israeli strikes during the aggression, and Chabahar in the southeast.
No timeline was given for the full resumption of flights at suspended airports, with the government stating that operations in other regions will remain halted until further notice.
