Shenzhen-Tehran direct flight inaugurated

Mahan Air, the leading and largest international airline in Iran, inaugurated a direct flight between Shenzhen and Tehran at the Shenzhen airport on July 1.

The scheduled flight will fly from Tehran to Shenzhen every Monday and Thursday while every Wednesday and Sunday, it will operate from Shenzhen to Tehran.

It departs at 11:10 p.m. from Shenzhen and arrives in Tehran at 5:10 a.m. the following day local time. The return flight leaves Tehran at 9:15 p.m. and arrives in Shenzhen at 9:30 a.m. It takes about 8.5 hours from Tehran to Shenzhen and nine hours and 10 minutes from Shenzhen to Tehran.

A340-600 aircraft with 45 seats in business class and 220 seats in economy class are being deployed on the new route.

"Shenzhen, known as China's Silicon Valley, is one of the most successful special economic zones in China and has a great commercial importance due to its superior geographic location, flourishing economy and market, strong industry foundation, science and innovation, high capacity for cultural exchanges, and beautiful ecological environment," said Mehdi Aliari, senior consultant to the managing director of Mahan Air, at the inaugural ceremony.

"Therefore, by establishing this route, Mahan Air hopes to play a role in the development of tourism and trade, deepening and upgrading the economic relationship between the two cities."

The new route is Shenzhen's 51st international route, while Tehran becomes the third city in the Middle East that operates flights to Shenzhen.

Mahan Air began flying scheduled flights to China with two weekly flights to Shanghai in September 2011. Shenzhen is Mahan Air's fourth Chinese destination following Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. It operates 15 flights per week between China and Tehran.

With over 26 years' experience, Mahan Air flies more than 40 domestic routes and 42 international routes, transporting around 5 million passengers annually.

On Sunday, the Iran state news agency reported that Iran will no longer require Chinese visitors to obtain visas in order to boost tourism.

"The Cabinet has agreed to waive visa requirements for Chinese nationals entering the Islamic Republic of Iran," IRNA said.

Tourism board chief Ali Asghar Mounesan told IRNA that they "aim to host 2 million Chinese tourists per year using our country's numerous attractions."

According to IRNA, some 52,000 Chinese tourists visited Iran during the 12 months to March.

In another bid to boost tourist arrivals, Iran recently announced it would no longer stamp visitors' passports, allowing them to bypass a U.S. entry ban on travelers who have visited the Islamic Republic.