Tehran's New Airport Will Finally Reopen April 30

The Iranian.ws:

Iran's showpiece new airport will finally reopen on April 30 after being dramatically shut down by the Revolutionary Guards last year over the involvement of a Turkish consortium, the country's transport minister was quoted as saying Tuesday. READ MORE

But Mohammad Rahmati suggested that this time there would probably be no role for a foreign company at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. "The handling services of Imam Khomeini International Airport will certainly be done by Iran Air and another company whose shareholders are Iranians," Rahmati said. He said another company would be charged with operational activities at the airport a month after the reopening, but he did not elaborate.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, one of the country's most powerful institutions, stormed the new airport on the day it opened in May 2004 to protest at the involvement of Turkish-Austrian consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV). Asked about the future role of TAV, Rahmati said: "TAV's (deal) is on the agenda of cabinet, and so far nothing has happened either positive or negative."

The Revolutionary Guards argued that TAV also had dealings with arch-enemy Israel, and charged that their presence at the airport in the middle of the desert south of the capital was a threat to national security.

In September, Iran's hardline-dominated parliament voted to give itself the power to revise the contract with TAV. The moves have badly hit relations with Turkey, and Iran's reformist government has accused MPs of simply being opposed to foreign investment.

The airport -- a project first launched three decades ago -- was built at a cost of 350 million dollars with a capacity of 2.5 million international and four million domestic passengers a year. But it has been hit by a series of delays. Officials said it would eventually be able to handle 40 million passengers a year as a regional transport hub.