Iran Air back on EU blacklist: will disappear from European skies (and in Italy from Rome and Milan)
Iran Air will disappear (again) from European skies, including Italian skies. In fact, the ban will be part of the sanctions package that [...]
IKA
Iran Air will disappear (again) from European skies, including Italian skies. In fact, the ban will be part of the sanctions package that the European Union is preparing to launch against Tehran, guilty of supplying Russia with missiles and drones used to attack Ukrainian territory.
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Tehran's carrier had already been blacklisted by the EU between 2010 and 2016 and for a short period in 2020. The United Kingdom, France and Germany, where by the way most of Iran Air's European destinations are concentrated, have already said they will end the company's flights at their airports.
But because the sanctions will have a European character, other countries will follow. And it is all but certain that Iran will 'retaliate' by banning the only EU airline still flying there from its airports: Austrian Airlines (with Airbus A320s and A321s). Germany's Lufthansa, which planned to resume connections from Frankfurt starting next October 27 with Airbus A340-300s, will most likely be forced to revise its plans.
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The stop at Iran Air will also involve Italy and specifically the two airports of Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa where the carrier flies once and twice a week, respectively, using its Airbus A330-200s, which are the most modern jets at its disposal (within an aging fleet that includes 13 ATRs, 2 A319s, 3 A320s, 1 A321, 1 A310, 5 A300s and 3 Fokker 100s).
In Europe, the Ayatollahs' company also flies in Vienna, in Paris (CDG), in London (LHR) and in as many as three cities in Germany: Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg.
In 2023, according to data provided by simpleflying,com, Iran Air carried about 273,000 passengers on these eight routes, that is, about 15% of the 1.8 million people who flew between the EU and Iran. E Milan, with 45,000 passengers, was Iran Air's second largest destination after London (50,000) but ahead of Paris (40,000), Hamburg (36,000), Frankfurt (34,000), Cologne (33,000), Vienna (18,000) and Rome (17,000).
The lion's share of Ue-Iran air travel, however, was done by Turkish Airlines, as 70% of that 800 thousand million travelers transited via Istanbul. Turkish flies to Tehran nonstop a whopping 6 times a day with a mix of A320s, 737-800s and A330-300s.
