Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) — Iran’s main international gateway — has resumed passenger flights for the first time in nearly two months, marking the most visible sign yet of partial de-escalation in the regional conflict.
Very early on Saturday, passenger services lifted off from IKA bound for Medina, Muscat and Istanbul, Iran’s official Mehr News Agency reported. The airport had been effectively closed to scheduled traffic since February 28, when what Iranian state media described as the “US-Zionist aggression” began and a sweeping closure of Iranian airspace forced carriers to divert across the Caspian and the Caucasus.
National flag carrier Iran Air said it would shortly resume routes to Baku, Najaf, Baghdad and Doha, with additional Gulf and Levantine destinations under review depending on overflight clearances. The airline cautioned that schedules would remain provisional while parts of western Iran’s airspace stayed restricted.
Ada Derana, citing the same morning Mehr report, confirmed that the resumption was partial rather than a full return to pre-war operations.
The reopening will be closely watched by Sri Lankan travellers and the airline industry. Two months of Iran-Israel hostilities forced airfares on India–Europe and Gulf routes up by as much as 25 per cent, as carriers including SriLankan Airlines added fuel stops or detoured around closed Iranian airspace. European airlines have separately warned of jet-fuel shortages tied to the war.
The IKA reopening also lands amid an active diplomatic track. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad earlier in the week for second-round talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff, before Mr Trump abruptly cancelled the meetings.
Sources: Ada Derana, Mehr News.
