International flights resume at Kandahar airport

KABUL (Pajhwok): International flights resumed to and from Ahmad Shah Baba’s international airport in southern Kandahar province on Thursday.

The flights had been delayed for the past two months since the Taliban took power.

Maulvi Khalid, head of the Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, told Pajhwok that a flight to Iran was flown today as part of the resumption of international flights from the airport.

He added: “Iran’s Mahan Airlines flew from Mashhad to Kandahar and from there flew back to Mashhad carrying 56 passengers.”

He said the flights would be continuous and would operate once a week between Mashhad and Kandahar.

He assured all countries they could fly to all airports in the country, including Ahmad Shah Baba Airport.

Residents of Kandahar welcomed the resumption of international flights after a two-month delay, but demanded that flights to other countries besides Iran be resumed as before.

Aziz Ahmad, a resident of 11^th police district, told Pajhwok that flights from Kandahar Airport to Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates should be resumed.

He added that trade between Afghanistan and the mentioned countries was high and there was a serious need to resume flights.

The head of Ahmad Shah Baba Airport said that talks were underway with the mentioned countries and they had shown readiness for flights.

Sa/ma