Qeshm Airlines celebrates maiden flight on Hamburg-Tabriz route
First ever direct service from Hamburg to Iranian city of culture
Festive first flight from Hamburg Airport: Iranian airline Qeshm Airlines landed in Hamburg for the first time today. The airline now links the city twice weekly with Tabriz in Iran, flying twice weekly on Monday and Friday year-round. The service is being operated with 133-seat Airbus A319 aircraft. Flights land in Hamburg at 11:30 a.m. and the plane takes off again at 1:30 p.m. The flight lasts just under five hours. Tabriz in Iran is a completely new destination in Hamburg Airport’s route network, being served from Hamburg for the very first time. For Tabriz, Hamburg is the first European destination with a direct flight.
Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Hamburg Airport, Dr Rolf Strittmatter, CEO of Hamburg Business Development Corporation (HWF), and Seyed Saeid Seyedin, Iranian Consul-General in Hamburg, welcomed passengers from the first flight as they arrived in Hamburg. Amongst passengers on board the aircraft were Mahmoud Shekarabi, CEO of Qeshm Airlines, and Sadegh Najafi, Mayor of Tabriz. After the official welcome, the maiden flight was celebrated at a reception in the Radisson Blu Hotel at Hamburg Airport.
Revival of old trade routes opens up economic potential
“The new connection between Hamburg and Tabriz has great economic potential,” says Michael Eggenschwiler. “It offers new possibilities, not only for tourism and ethnic traffic, but also for business travel and cargo. The new service is also contributing to a revival of the original Silk Road — once one of the world’s most important trade routes.”
Tabriz: Oriental city of culture
Tabriz is the capital of the Iranian region of East Azerbaijan at the northwestern edge of the country, close to the Turkish border. With more than two million inhabitants, Tabriz is one of the largest Azerbaijani cultural centers in Iran and a significant university city.
The city, once located on the famous Silk Road, was an important trade hub. Tabriz came to fame in Europe because of the manufacture of carpet. This provides another link to Hamburg: many of the Persian carpet trading companies based here, characteristic in particular of the Speicherstadt warehouse district, originate in Tabriz or source their carpets from the city. Beyond this, too, Tabriz offers visitors a diverse cultural experience, including the historical bazaar, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 2010.