Due to existing US sanctions, flights from Iran to Malaysia have become impossible. The route is essentially discontinued for all Iranian airlines until further notice.
Why is this happening?
According to TV broadcaster Iran International, existing sanctions imposed by the United States prohibits American companies from supplying fuel to Iranian aircraft.
This impacts Iranian flights to Malaysia as the refuelling companies at its airport source fuel from US companies. The report from the Persian broadcaster added:
“These companies have been informed that they will be subject to punitive measures if they keep refuelling the Islamic Republic’s planes.”
All Iranian flights to Malaysia will stop indefinitely from 23 August.
This Friday, the Secretary of Iran’s Aviation Companies Association, Maghsoud Asadi-Samani, said that privately-owned Iranian airline Mahan Air would be operating its last Iranian flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Iran’s connections to the rest of the world by air have just gotten even smaller. Samani described the dire situation as yet another blow to the country’s aviation industry via U.S sanctions as in 2008, Mahan Air was sanctioned by the United States over its links to the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Samani added that domestic Iranian airlines will also suffer as they will be losing revenue from passenger transportation on the Malaysia route and the country will also “lose one of the bases in Southeast Asia”.
Prior to these events, only Mahan Air and the country’s flag carrier Iran Air owned aircraft that were capable to fly from the capital of Iran, Tehran, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Before the pandemic two years ago, demand for the Tehran – Kuala Lumpur route was high.
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