Vinci Airports, a major player in the aviation sector which manages the development and operations of 25 airports worldwide, has signed a memorandum of understanding for the expansion of two airports in Iran.

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.

The Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Iran Airports Company signed the agreement with Vinci during the state visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to France, said a statement from Vinci.

The agreement for Mashhad and Isfahan airports 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,  it stated.

With tourism increasing more than 35 per cent 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, it added.-TradeArabia News Service