UNITED KINGDOM: British Airways Delays Relaunch Of Flights To Iran

British Airways has postponed the long-awaited resumption of its flights to Iran until September, a report says. The six-weekly direct service to Tehran from London was due to start from July 14 but has now been pushed back due to “some technical issues,” The Telegraph has quoted a British Airways spokesperson as saying.

“While preparations for the new route have generally been progressing well, some technical issues have arisen which makes it sensible for us to put back the launch of flights from mid-July to September 1,” the spokesperson said.

“Customers who were booked to fly before September 1 will be notified of their flight cancellation and offered a number of options, including re-routing on alternative dates, full refunds or rebooking them to fly with other airlines. We look forward to opening the route in September.”

Iran’s media said in March that an agreement has been signed with Britain that would allow British Airways to resume flights to Iran after a hiatus of six years.

The agreement was announced by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) which said the flights by British Airways to Iran will resume from July 14.

British Airways had in January voiced interest in reinstating its direct flights to Iran.

"We are very interested in flying to Tehran and we are hopeful that it will form part of BA's network in the very near future," The CEO of British Airways, said. “We are actively looking at it as a destination," Walsh had emphasized.

This came following other indications that there is already a growing interest by British tourists to travel to Iran.