Iranian airline Mahan Air has lost millions of dollars following the UK Department of Transport’s recent decision to ban its flights to the country.
The airline’s director of marketing and route management, Hossein Hosseini, said that the cost of disruption caused by the ban was “about a million pounds ($2.03 million) a week” since flights to the UK were running at “record load factors”.
Hosseini added: “This has been a disaster during the height of our success in the UK market. The problem is from a device, which our aircraft were not equipped with and that we were planning to install on the A310s, covering the UK flights, in October.
“We have pushed forward the installation date and the effected aircraft will have them installed by the first half of September. We have offered alternate travel arrangements for all passengers who were affected at our own expense.”
The UK Department of Transport’s action forced Mahan Air to stop operating to the UK from July 21.
Hosseini said he expects other routes to remain unaffected before suggesting safety concerns weren’t the only reason for the UK ban.
“We feel politics had something to do with such a sudden decision by the UK government,” he revealed.
But the UK Department of Transport dismissed this claim, saying the ban was purely for safety reasons.
“There have been a number of incidents involving Mahan Air recently, which put the safety of the airline’s operations in doubt,” said a department spokesperson.
“They haven’t had the collision avoidance systems installed that are required, for example.”
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