Iran Air begins weekly service to Quetta.

Iran Air, Iran’s national flag carrier, made its first direct trip from Mashhad to the capital of Balochistan, Quetta, on October 29, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). In order to improve air connection and increase trade and tourism between the two adjacent countries, the airline will now run a single daily every Wednesday on the Mashhad–Zahedan–Quetta route. The PAA stated in a statement on Thursday that Iran Air flight 826 will henceforth run once a week on Wednesdays, landing in Quetta at 9:30 p.m. Iran’s Consul General Ali Reza Rajaei and other dignitaries attended the inaugural ceremony, which was attended mostly by Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhel. On this occasion, the national anthems of both nations were played. Shia pilgrims from Balochistan, who often go to the Iranian cities of Mashhad and Qom, are anticipated to find travel considerably easier with the start of Iran Air’s Quetta trip. The long and frequently difficult bus ride across border crossings—which has occasionally been targeted by separatist militants—will be replaced by the new air service, which will be safer, quicker, and more convenient.