British Airways and Air France both announced on August 23 that they will stop flying to Iran from next month.

The flag carriers stated that the route was "not commercially viable." However, even if the route was very profitable it is more than likely that the airlines would have nevertheless scrapped their Iran services given the exposure they would have to secondary sanctions from Washington if they continued with them. The US has warned that any foreign company continuing to do business with the Islamic Republic despite the Trump adminstration’s request that they refrain from doing so could be pursued with sanctions.

The reintroduction of heavy American sanctions—which the US says it will tighten to an unprecedented level as it attempts to throttle Iran’s economy to the point where Tehran comes to the table to reset its involvement in Middle East affairs—has caused the Iranian rial (IRR) to nosedive over recent months, making it more expensive for Iranians to travel overseas. The number of foreign business people travelling to Iran has also no doubt fallen significantly since the US resumed economic hostilities.

EU efforts to shield European companies that choose to remain in trade or investment deals with Iran from US sanctions are not getting anywhere fast. It appears that very few big-name European companies are intending to stay in Iran and risk sanctions. Those with assets or important fund-raising considerations in the US certainly feel they have too much to lose, whatever protections Brussels might offer.

Final flight
BA restarted its service to Tehran two years ago after a four-year hiatus. Its final flight will be on 22 September, returning the next day.

The airline apologised to travellers planning to travel to Iran. It said it was offering refunds for impacted customers or a possible rerouting via other airlines.

Air France presently only operates connections with Tehran through its low-cost airline Joon. The number of Joon flights to the Iranian capital was cut from three to one at the beginning of August. All flights will cease on 18 September.

Dutch KLM said in July that it would suspend flights from Amsterdam to Iran from September.

IranAir’s efforts to modernise its fleet by acquiring aircraft from manufacturers including Airbus, ATR and Boeing have also been largely frustrated by the sanctions. In early August, the airline did manage to obtain five new ATR turboprop jets the day before the first of the reimposed sanctions snapped back into place.

The delivery prompted Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Zarif  to comment on how the fact that the sanctions target Iran’s ability to purchase passenger planes showed the US contempt for the Iranian population at large. “If you have [good] relations with people of Iran, then the question is why the first round of sanctions you imposed were targeting planes?” he said.

Around 2,000 people have died in plane crashes in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The country’s ability to source spare parts or new planes has been limited several times over the decades by Western sanctions. During the previous sanctions era, Iranian airlines were known to resort to smuggling to obtain parts that would enable them to keep their planes airborne.