Iran\u2019s transportation sector has sustained an estimated loss of 80,000 billion rials ($495 million) following the outbreak of coronavirus, an official with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cAfter tourism, the transportation sector took the biggest hit from the\n pandemic, which prioritizes it to receive government aid,\u201d Mohsen \nSadeqi was quoted as saying by the Persian-language daily Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe government has approved a 750-trillion-rial ($4.64 billion) package\n to help low-income households and struggling businesses impacted by the\n rapidly spreading coronavirus. The loans will be given to small- and \nmedium-sized enterprises hit hard by the pandemic, according to the \nwebsite of the Central Bank of Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tNoting that rail companies and airlines mostly take out loans in \nforeign currency rather than rial, the senior official said, \u201cIn \naddition to corona relief measures like granting cheap loans, tax and \ninsurance premium relief, the extension of repayment schedule for \nforeign currency loans is the newest proposal we came up with to support\n rail companies and airlines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThe lending rate for the government aid package will be 12% to be \nrepaid within two years,\u201d Abdolnasser Hemmati, the CBI governor, said. \nCommenting on the interest rate, Hemmati said it is reasonable in view \nof the high inflation rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cEven if banks had set 18% interest on loans, the real interest rate \nwould still be negative when compared to annual inflation \u2026 Any rate \nbelow 12% would apparently impose further financial strain on banks,\u201d he\n added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tHemmati noted that only businesses that did not lay off workers during \nthe corona crisis would be eligible for the loans. He instructed banks \nto process the loans soon and cut red tape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tLast month, Secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines Maqsoud \nAsadi-Samani said the impact of coronavirus could result in airlines \nlosing up to an estimate of 30,000 billion rials ($187 million) by April\n 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe number of air passengers reduced by 76% and flights by 90% during \nthe Iranian New Year holidays [March 20-April 3], he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tMoreover, Iran Airports Company’s revenues have declined by 80% \nfollowing the suspension of domestic and international flights, \nHamid-Reza Seyyedi, an official with the company, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThe company has sustained losses to the tune of 2,000 billion rials \n[$12.38 million] in the 12th month of the last fiscal year [Feb. \n20-March 19].\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tDomestic and foreign airlines have provided passengers refunds worth \nmore than 8,000 billion rials (about $50 million) for cancelled flights \nsince the outbreak of coronavirus, spokesperson of Iran Civil Aviation \nOrganization, Reza Jafarzadeh, said recently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cAccording to the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Ministry, \n95% of passengers whose flights have been cancelled have received \ncompensation so far,\u201d he was quoted as saying by IRIB News last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tCAO spokesman\u2019s comments come as Hormatollah Rafiei, the head of Travel\n Agents Guild Association, says Iranian and foreign airlines refuse to \nreturn as much as 4,000 billion rials (about $25 million) worth of \npeople\u2019s cancelled tickets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tLast week, he issued a warning to airlines about their failure to \nfollow the refund rules and that his association is mulling over taking \nlegal action against them, the Persian-language daily Etemad reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cMany foreign airlines have been offering vouchers and credits for \nfuture travel, which customers often must use before the end of the \nyear, instead of honoring their obligation to give refunds,\u201d \nAsadi-Samani said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cHowever, I am confident that almost all Iranian airlines have provided\n refunds to passengers for flights cancelled due to the pandemic. For \nexample, one of the major domestic airlines has repaid 400 billion rials\n [$2.5 million] to passengers so far.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tMehrdad Taqizadeh, the secretary of Iran\u2019s Guild of Rail Transport \nCompanies, said passenger and freight rail transport could see up to \n5,050 billion rials ($31.26 million) and 1,000 billion rials (about $6.2\n million) in losses by June 20 due to the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tNoting that the number of rail passengers fell by 94% during the \nholidays compared with last year\u2019s similar period, the official said, \u201cA\n total of 300,000 tickets were cancelled and 910 billion rials [$5.63 \nmillion] were paid back to people following the disease outbreak.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tTaqizadeh noted that his guild will seek a 2,000-billion-rial ($12.38 \nmillion) bailout and loans with an interest rate of 4% for rail \ncompanies in a letter to the government, Fars News Agency reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThe Roads and Urban Development Ministry has put together a \ncomprehensive report on the jobs hurt by the coronavirus based on \ndifferent transportation sectors,\u201d Sadeqi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cFor example, we have taken into consideration the number of airplanes \nan airline owns or how many active plane seats and insured employees it \nhas. The same considerations were made in relation to rail and road \nsectors. We have even worked out a solution to lend support to marine \ntransportation, although it incurred the least loss among modes of \ntransportation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe Roads Ministry official said road transportation accounts for the \nlargest portion of passengers moving 400 million people annually \ncompared with 22 million rail and air passengers, and thus sustained the\n brunt of the crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThere are 113,000 drivers who hold smart driving cards. As we speak, \nall roads are open but traffic has decreased by 60%. The number of jobs \nhas fallen by the same percentage in this sector and only about 40,000 \ndrivers are working now,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThe movement of freight is back to normal; any decline is due to the \nclosure of factories. Loading at ports is higher than last year\u2019s \nvolume.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tHassan Momeni, the head of guild association of passenger transport \ncompanies, said a large number of passenger transport companies \naffiliated to the municipalities have been closed due to the virus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThose still active are faced with a 93% decline in their business. \nLess than 10% of employees in these sectors continued to work during the\n peak of the crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAccording to a report by the research arm of the parliament, Majlis \nResearch Center, Over 1.32 million people in road transportation, 70,000\n in air transportation and more than 35,000 in rail transportation \nsectors lost their jobs amid the outbreak of coronavirus. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran\u2019s transportation sector has sustained an estimated loss of 80,000 billion rials ($495 million) following the outbreak of coronavirus, an official with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development said.\u00a0 \u201cAfter tourism, the transportation sector took the biggest hit from the pandemic, which prioritizes it to receive government aid,\u201d Mohsen Sadeqi was quoted as saying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[747,8],"tags":[1093,1069,1079,28,639,1085],"yoast_head":"\n