Iran to launch direct flight between Mashhad and India’s Hyderabad
Iranian authorities have announced the imminent launch of a new flight route from the second largest city of Mashhad to Hyderabad, India’s sixth largest city which is home to a significant population of Shia Muslims with Iranian origin.
A senior official in Khorasan Razavi, the province where Mashhad is the capital city, said on Saturday that the route announcement had been finalized after a recent meeting between the provincial governor and India’s ambassador to Iran.
Ali Rassulian said that a coordination meeting had been held earlier in the day between officials from various government departments, adding that a representative from Iran’s Ata Airlines, a carrier based in the city of Tabriz which will accommodate the flight, was also present in the meeting.
The route will be a first to directly link Hyderabad to an Iranian city. Flights from the Iranian capital Tehran to Hyderabad are normally carried out via airports in the Persian Gulf region.
The flight is expected to attract a significant number of pilgrims from Hyderabad to the holy shrine of Imam Reza, the eight Shia Imam, which is located in Mashhad.
Hyderabad, in southern India, has a population of more than seven million people. An estimated 200,000 Shia Muslims live in the city, the second largest Shia community in India after Lucknow.
There is a strong cultural link between Hyderabad and Iran as the city and its surrounding regions have been home to a small but powerful Iranian community for more than 400 years.
Iranians run major businesses in Hyderabad, including in food and catering. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani travelled to the city in February last year while he was on an official visit to India.
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