Iran launches direct flights to Astrakhan
Iran has opened direct flights between Tehran and the Russian city of Astrakhan to boost trade ties between the two countries, local media reported Tuesday, citing a senior official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
Flights between Iran's capital and Russia’s southern city are scheduled for every Tuesday and Friday, ISNA news agency cited the Organization's Vice President Mohammad Reza Modoudi as saying.
The flight is aimed at promoting trade between Iran and Russia, but ordinary passengers will also use the route, Modoudi said in the report that was also carried by Sputnik news agency.
The media outlet did not name the flight operator, while the online timetable of Astrakhan's international Narimanovo Airport shows a Taban Air flight arriving at 13:00 local time (09:00 GMT).
Astrakhan is the main jumping-off point for Russian seaborne trade with Iran. There have earlier been indications that exports to Iran from the city have already seen a major drop of 16 percent in the terms of the value of goods. The drop had been recorded over the first four months of the current year compared to the same period last year.
The worst affected commodity category appears to have been grain, but the trade for petrochemicals, paper, glass, wood and wooden products is still believed to be normal.
Reuters, in a recent report, has quoted Russian businessmen as blaming the red tape for the declining trade with Iran.
With sanctions gone, businesspeople in Astrakhan predict that big global grain traders will now move into the Iran market, squeezing out Russian players, Reuters added.
The big global traders will have lower costs because they can deliver grain on vessels of up to 70,000 tons via Iran's ports in the Persian Gulf, while the maximum size of vessels in the Caspian is 6,000 tons, Hossein Lotfi, the owner of a trading firm, has told the news agency.
"If Russia does not take steps to hold onto its trade with Iran, it could lose 20 to 30 percent of grain exports," said Lotfi, who is also a consultant to Astrakhan's chamber of commerce with Iran.
"Once payments are simplified new players could come into the south of Iran, and they can offer lower prices."
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