Deputy to the Mahan Airlines Managing Director in charge of international affairs and development Mehdi Aliyari told an IRNA reporter here Monday that agreement was reached concerning the flight route between Tehran and Kabul.

He added that after negotiations with the Aviation and Tourism Minister of the Afghan Interim Government Zelmi Rasoul a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed jointly between him and Managing Director of the Afghan Ariyana Airlines Jahad Azimi on launching two weekly flights between Kabul and Tehran.

Aliyari said that the delay in launching of the Mahan Airlines Airbus flights was due to securing the safety of flight routes, adding that officials of the Afghan Interim Government have assured security of the Tehran-Kabul flight route.

He added, "As two weekly flights are scheduled between Tehran and Kabul, European and Asian visitors might fly to Kabul after a 72-hour stop in Tehran to obtain an entry visa."

He recalled that besides its consular office in Herat, Iran's embassy intends to make its representative office in Kabul more active so that entry visas would be issued for government employees, tradesmen, foreign commissions in Afghanistan and Afghan citizens intending to leave for any destination via Iran.

Referring to the significance of the imminent launching of Tehran-Kabul and Kabul-Tehran flights, he said that Iran will soon serve as a transit center for the European and Asian visitors heading towards Afghanistan. Besides the flights will be quite convenient for a great number of Afghans who will soon return to their homeland based on the repatriation agreement due to be signed in Geneva.

He added that according to the assessments, fares of Tehran-Kabul tickets will be quite reasonable and much lower than the fares of other airlines to enable Afghan migrants to return to Afghanistan without facing any problem.

He also referred to another MoU signed between the Afghan Ariyana Airlines and Iran's Mahan Airlines on mutual cooperation in technical, commercial and training fields.

He added that Mahan Airlines' overseas flights are currently destined to Thailand, Germany, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Syria, Turkey, Bahrain, UAE and Oman.

He concluded that flights of the Mahan Airlines are characterized by their high technical potential since Airbus planes are used in all flights.