Air France to scale down its Iran business

Air France says it plans to cut back on the number of its flights from Paris to Tehran from October citing poor economic performance over two years in operation.

"Air France has decided to adapt its program to better match demand," Reuters quoted an Air France spokeswoman as saying through email.

She emphasized that flights between the two capitals would only be carried out during summer season.

Reuters added that the came amid international uncertainty over whether US President Donald Trump will pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran, although the airline’s spokeswoman said the decision was not linked to the political climate with Iran.

On 12 May, Trump will decide whether he will leave or stay in a nuclear agreement that the US under former president Barack Obama sealed with Iran together with Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. 

Based on the agreement, Iran would limit certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities in return for steps by other signatories to lift the sanctions against the country.   

Ever since taking office, Trump has been waging a war against the Iran deal – technically known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He says it needs serious improvements, emphasizing that Washington would pull out of it if those improvements are not made.

Iran has been insisting that it would not re-negotiate the JCPOA. Other signatories such as France and Germany have called on the US to stay in the deal. Russia and China have to the same effect denounced Trump’s efforts to abandon international treaties – most importantly the JCPOA.  

The agreement – that came into effect in early 2016 – provided Iran with some space to seal new economic deals. The most important ones included agreements to purchase planes from global giants such as Airbus and Boeing. It also encouraged European businesses to start discussions with Iran over post-sanctions investments.

However, most of businesses now appear to have held their plans until Trump makes it clear what he plans to do with the JCPOA.

In January, Air France said it was shifting Tehran services from its main network to its recently launched Joon subsidiary as part of a wider restructuring and rebranding.

Joon offers some business-class seats although it is not mainly aimed at traditional business travelers, but instead at younger travelers with money to spend, Reuters added.

Air France said it would handle the re-booking of flights for customers affected by the change.

The airline’s decision follows a similar one in December by Etihad Airways, which had also said it would scrap flights to Iran and Uganda.

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