Iran Airports Company has signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with VINCI Airports and Bouygues Group to develop three airports.

One one hand the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the Iran Airports Company and VINCI Airports have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the concession for the Mashhad and Isfahan airports, Iran’s 2nd and 5th largest airports respectively.

This agreement is the first step in a process that should result in the establishment of concessions that will renovate, extend and operate each of the two airports in 2016.

The airport in Mashhad, which recorded 8.2 million passengers in 2014, is located in the northeast of the country and serves the country’s second largest city, a holy city that attracts more than 20 million pilgrims every year. The Isfahan airport, with 2.6 million passengers in 2014, serves Iran’s third largest city, the capital of the Persian empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, renowned for its rich cultural and historic heritage.

On the other hand, Aéroports de Paris, Bouygues Bâtiment International, a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group, and the Iranian authorities have signed a memorandum of understanding opening a period of 3 months of exclusive negotiation for the development of the Iman Khomeini International Airport in Teheran.

The project is about the renovation of the existing terminal and also the design, construction and operation of new terminals. Those projects should bring the capacity of the International Airport in Teheran up to 34 million passengers by 2020, versus a current capacity of 6.5 million passengers.

With tourism increasing more than 35% in 2014 and the recent effective lifting of international sanctions, airport activity holds out major economic potential in Iran. With its large population and territory, Iran lends itself to air transport.