MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela's Conviasa starts weekly flights to Tehran

Conviasa's service offers the possibility of flying on to China through a code-share agreement

Venezuela's increasingly deeper ties with Iran have resulted in flag carrier Conviasa starting nonstop services to Tehran once a week as of Sunday, it was announced.

Upon arrival at the Imam Khomeini International Air Terminal, Science Minister Gabriela Jiménez and Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Air Services (Conviasa) CEO Ramon Velasquez Araguayan, were welcomed by Airport Director Saeid Chalandari.

The Conviasa official announced that this air connection will be made through a 13-hour non-stop flight which will offer “approximately 2,400 passengers” the possibility of flying on to Guangzhou in China through an allied airline under a code-sharing agreement.

Flights will arrive in Tehran Sundays at 1 pm local time and head back for South America Tuesdays at 2.45 am.

These commercial trips are the result of agreements between the presidents of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, Velásquez Araguayán explained. “We continue to promote the policies of our President [Nicolás] Maduro because we are a Revolutionary Government,” he added.

Iran has supplied Venezuela with various aircraft, including the cargo Boeing 747-300 currently seized by Argentina's authorities in Buenos Aires and which featured a crew of 5 Iranians and 14 Venezuelans. It is registered as owned by Conviasa's freight subsidiary Emtrasur.