and exchange rate fluctuations, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported last week.
In an interview with ILNA, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Iranian Airlines Association, Abdol-Reza Musavi, said:
“Since the phase-out of subsidies, airlines have been experiencing a liquidity squeeze and the number of grounded planes is on the increase.”
Musavi said: “The expenditures of Iranian airlines are above the global average because of sanctions and fluctuations in the exchange rate.”
Musavi said: “With the phase-out of subsidies, the price of fuel has increased by 400 percent and despite a 35 percent rise in the foreign exchange rate since Farvardin [March/April 2011], the price of tickets has only risen by 35 percent.”
Musavi called for more support from the government for the aviation industry, saying: “The sanctions against Iran’s air fleet will become ineffective if the rules and regulations are amended and more inexpensive facilities are offered to the Iranian air fleet.”
Musavi said: “The aviation industry is one of the most deprived industries in the country because of lack of support from the government.”
