MNA – Iran’s Ministry of Road and Urban Development has submitted a proposal to the government’s economic commission to increase the discount of the overflight fees up to 50% in a bid to regain the lost revenues after the coronavirus pandemic hit the sector.

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.

Reportedly, the average earnings per flight from the Iranian airspace is not less than $800, and about 950-1,000 flights pass through the Iranian airspace on a daily basis.

Managing Director of Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company Siavash Amir Makri was quoted by ILNA earlier that overflight fees in Iraq and Afghanistan are fixed, $375 and $400 respectively, but overflight fees in Iran are about $100 so using the Iranian airspace is cheaper for other countries.

According to him, Iran’s revenue from overflight fees was about $300-350 billion a year.

However, Iran Airports Company registered a total of 23,223 takeoffs and landings during the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 20-May 20), which indicates a 62% decline compared with the similar period of last year.

More than 2.02 million passengers were transported during the two months under review, indicating a 73% year-on-year decline.

Over 19,509 tons of cargos were handled during the same period, which shows a 75% fall compared with the corresponding period of last year, IAC's latest report published on its website shows.

Iran Airports Company is an arm of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, which manages 54 airports across the country.