BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The financial capital needed to set up an airline in Iran has been converted from foreign currency to the national Iranian currency, Spokesman for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh said, Trend reports citing Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Iran.
The spokesman stressed that from now on, the financial capital of any airline in Iran will be 8 trillion rials ($190 million according to the Iranian official currency rate and $36.2 million according to the SANA exchange rate) instead of $100 million.
Zibakhsh added that the decision was made taking into account the rise in foreign exchange prices in Iran and rising market prices.
“The economic situation in Iran and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have caused certain damages to Iranian airlines. Despite all this, there are appeals to create a new airline,” he said.
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has announced the official exchange rate of $1 equals 42,000 rials. This rate is intended for the imports of a number of essential products to Iran.
The SANA exchange rate is a system introduced by the Central Bank of Iran to the currency exchange offices, where the price of $1 is 221,000 rials.
On January 11, the Director of Iranian Air Travel and Tourism Offices Association, Younes Daqiq Kia said that Iranian Airlines suffered a financial loss of 20 trillion rials (about $476 million) during the first six months of the current Iranian year (March 20 through September 21, 2020).