Joburg-Tehran route still a long way off

DESPITE already applying for
a Foreign Operator’s Permit
(FOP) (see TNW August 31,
2016), Iranian-based airline,
Mahan Air, says it has no
plans to serve the Tehra-nJohannesburg
route any
time soon, according to the
airline’s director of Global
Marketing, Hossein Hosseini.
Department of Transport
spokesperson, Motlatsi
Lebea, says Mahan Air’s FOP
enquiry has been finalised
by the department, and the
application has been handed
over to the Department of
Home Affairs.
“What is outstanding,
though, is the airline’s
compliance with the
Advance Passenger
Processing Certificate
(APPC), which is being
addressed by the DHA,” says
Motlatsi. “The FOP will be
approved as soon as Mahan
Air is in compliance with the
APPC.”
Though Motlatsi says
Mahan Air will be allowed
to operate as soon as it
receives the FOP, Hossein
says the airline won’t fly
between OR Tambo and
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini
International Airport for at
least the next three years.