This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.Iran Air's new Airbus plane approaches Merhabad airport, in Tehran, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Canadians trying to fly home from Iran have grown accustomed to seeing Tehran's airport departures board devoid of direct flights to back to their country, a sight some travel experts worry could spell difficulty for travellers following recent tension and tragedy in Middle East.
“We had a call from one our clients. Her sister died in that crash and she was calling us from the Iran airport. She wants to go back to join for the funeral, but the flight from Frankfurt to Tehran was cancelled,” Najafi said. Lufthansa flights through Frankfurt were also commonly used, but Najafi said some flights Canadian customers could have taken through the German city were cancelled.
Even before the crash and tensions, travel options to Tehran were limited, said Talebzadeh. Canadians trying to fly to or from Iran have grown accustomed to seeing Tehran’s airport departures board devoid of direct flights. Travellers hoping to get home this week, he said, can instead fly from Tehran to Dubai, Doha or Istanbul and then catch connections to major Canadian cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.“For a lot of carriers, they have to detour over all these airspaces to get where they are going, so flight times may be longer and there will be higher fuel consumption.”