{
  "id": 13941836,
  "title": "Luftverkehr: Vom Krieg in den Thailand-Urlaub: Irans umstrittenste Fluglinie baut trotz Trumps Drohungen ihr Asien-Geschäft aus",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/luftverkehr-vom-krieg-in-den-thailand-urlaub-irans-umstrittenste",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T11:05:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/dienstleister/luftverkehr-irans-umstrittenste-fluglinie-baut-ihr-asien-geschaeft-aus/100260928.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport's Terminal F is indistinguishable from other terminals at first glance. Swiss passengers are checked upon arrival in Zurich, while Philippine Airlines passengers wait in line. However, the seven counters in the middle are unusual. Passengers deposit their luggage here and fly to a location that is difficult to reach from abroad: Tehran. This flight, which should not exist, was requested by US President Donald Trump. Since the end of September, US sanctions against all Iranian airlines have been in effect with the aim of completely halting international flights and cutting Iran off from the world. The US government threatens secondary sanctions against anyone still cooperating with Iran's aviation industry. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified this by stating: \"If they land, they may not be refueled or provided with landing services.\" Instead, partners of Iranian airlines will be excluded from the dollar system. Meanwhile, during the Iran war, seven times more flights to China took place. Mahan Air, Iran's largest private airline, is expanding after seven months of the Iran war. The company plans 78 flights this month, nearly double October 2025. Vietnam is planning six flights, a country that was not on Mahan's flight plan a year ago. The Bangkok connection is at the same level as the previous year. However, Mahan plans to add one flight to Bangkok in December. The focus on China is natural: The Republic of China is Iran's largest trading partner and has explicitly rejected the US demand for the rejection of Iranian airlines. Vietnam and Thailand are more complicated. The Hanoi government has moved strongly towards the US in recent years, classifying their relationship as a \"comprehensive strategic partnership.\" However, Thailand, which is formally an ally of the US, is not following Trump's wishes. An inquiry to Thailand's response to the Iran flight line dispute was left unanswered by the Thai Foreign Ministry. The Thai government's continued openness to Iran's flights at its airports shows the limits of Trump's \"Operation Economic Outcast,\" which aims at a \"complete global isolation\" of the country. Those who took the Bangkok to Tehran flight last Wednesday evening were relieved to see the remaining flight connections. A 54-year-old man, who did not want to give his name out of fear of repression, said, \"These sanctions only end up affecting ordinary people like us. There is no crime in needing a few days of rest.\" Some passengers also use their stay in Thailand to buy products that are not available at home. One traveler carries several Zara shopping bags to the gate of the Iranian airline. Some passengers seem to have a close relationship with the Revolution Gardens. Mahan Air currently flies only to Russia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan besides China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Other regularly flown routes, such as to Turkey, Oman, or the United Arab Emirates, are currently excluded. Iraq partially reopened to Iranian airlines at the beginning of October, but Mahan Air is explicitly excluded. This could be due to suspicions of connections to Iranian Revolution Gardens. The US has had Mahan Air on its terror list since 2011, accusing the airline of transporting fighters, weapons, and money on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the previous Assad regime in Syria. Mahan Air and the Iranian government deny these accusations. In Europe, Mahan Air has been undesirable for years. Germany revoked Mahan Air's landing rights for flights to Düsseldorf and Munich in January 2019, citing military equipment and personnel transport to Syria. Since October 2024, Mahan Air is also on the EU's sanctions list for allegedly flying Iranian drones to Russia. The US Treasury Department also placed Boeing aircraft of the airline on its sanctions list, which Mahan Air uses on its East Asia routes. The Boeing 777 jets, built in the early 2000s for Singapore Airlines, later flew for Thai low-cost airline Nokscoot before being abandoned in Australia in 2020. Five of these jets were purchased by a Florida LLC and brought back into service in 2023.",
  "summary": "US-Präsident Trump will iranische Airlines weltweit verbannen. Doch in Asien kann Irans größte private Fluglinie expandieren und setzt auf eine Boeing-Flotte mit abenteuerlicher Vorgeschichte.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}