Airlines appear to make a major contribution to the cooperation in tourism sector between Iran and Azerbaijan.

Following agreements between Tehran and Baku to expand cooperation in tourism sector, the number of flights made between Iran and Azerbaijan has significantly increased and airlines from both countries intend to significantly increase their number of flights, an Iranian tour operator told local media.

The Chairman of Iran’s Aysan Parvaz travel agency, Mohsen Dastmalchi said that Iran earned about $1.5 billion in revenue from Azerbaijani visitors in 2015 as around 1.5 million tourists from the north-western neighboring country arrived in the Islamic Republic over the past year.

This is while the number of Iranian tourists arriving in Azerbaijan has also considerably increased, he added.

Iran currently launches nine flights to Azerbaijan on a weekly basis and it is capable of bringing about 1,350 tourists to the neighboring country per week.

In the meantime Azerbaijan’s flag carrier airline known as AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) continues its regular flights between the two countries.

Elaborating on the opportunities for cooperation in tourism sector between the two countries, he called on Azerbaijani tourists to visit various Iranian cities particularly the holy city of Mashhad.

Iran's revenue from tourism over the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20) amounted to $8 billion.