QUETTA: The inaugural flight of Iran Air, launched by the Iranian gover­nment between Que­t­ta and Zahedan, successfully operated on Friday.

An Airbus A-319 arrived at the Quetta International Airport at 09:15pm, and after a stay of over two-hours, departed for Zah­edan, the capital of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, at 11:30pm with 75 passengers on board.

Initially, the Iran Air will operate one flight per week between Quetta and Zahedan, with the frequency potentially incr­easing based on passenger demand.

A ceremony was held at the Quetta airport to mark the occasion, which was atte­nded by the counsel gen­eral and officials of the Iranian Cons­ulate in Quetta, a number of people from the business community and representatives from the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Quetta airport man­ager Waheed Shah, terminal manager Ismail Khoso, and the chief security officer of ASF were present to see off the passengers.

Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that Pakistani pilgrims will be barred from travelling by road to Iran and Iraq for Arbaeen due to security concerns.

In his social media post, Naqvi said, “After extensive consultations with the Min­istry of Foreign Aff­airs, Balochistan Gove­­­r­nment and security age­­n­cies, it has been dec­ided that Zaireen will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year.”

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025