German flag carrier Lufthansa's flight landed at the Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday night, marking the resumption of the airline’s services to Tehran after a period of suspension.
German Registration D-AIGW, which is an Airbus A340-313 aircraft of the airline operated flight number LH600 from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and landed at Tehran Khomeini Airport (IKA) on 10.20 PM local time.
Saeed Chalandari, the chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Imam Khomeini Airport City Co., said earlier that both Lufthansa Group and its low-cost subsidiary Austrian Airlines decided to resume flights to Imam Khomeini International Airport.
Chalandari said that Lufthansa flights would restart on March 1, followed by Austrian Airlines on March 2, as originally planned.
The Office of Communications, Information and International Affairs of Imam Khomeini Airport City announced that the Lufthansa LH 600 Flight from Frankfurt arrived at Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday, March 2, signaling the return of the airline to Tehran.
Air services between Iran and Europe were suspended in mid-October 2024 after the EU imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic over allegations that it had sent drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, which Iran denied the allegations.
Later, in the wake of Iran’s attack on Israeli territory with around 300 drones and missiles on April 13 and 14, 2024, the German airline initially suspended flights until April 18, later extending this to May 9 due to safety concerns amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.
However, the security situation has changed in the recent months. A two-month Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), warning of risks in Iranian airspace, expired on January 31.
Since then, the Tehran airspace has not seen a remarkable disturbance, according to Mohammad Amirani, head of Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company (IAC), who noted that Iranian airspace has seen over 700 daily overflights without incident.
Lufthansa's flight resumption comes as the European Union, along with the UK, imposed sanctions on three major Iranian airlines, namely IranAir, Mahan Air, and Saha Airlines, on October 14 over their alleged transfer of ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.
Iranian travellers have been forced to use connection flights via Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to travel between Iran and Europe since the EU sanctions were announced in mid-October.
CEO of the Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA), located to the southwest of the Iranian capital Tehran, said on Sunday that passenger traffic in the airport had increased by 5.3% year on year in the 11 months to February 18 to reach more than 7.380 million.
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