18/03/2019
INTERESTING FACT OF THE DAY
Which air route welcomes more first class fliers than any other? New York to Paris? Dubai to Hong Kong? LA to Tokyo? You're not even close.
According to aviation number crunchers OAG, the greatest number of uber-rich travellers are ferried between the Iranian cities of Tabriz and Tehran by little-known ATA Airlines.
It counted 35,646 first class seats for the month of June 2015 (more recent statistics are not available). That places the route ahead of Beijing-Shanghai (served by China Eastern and Air China for a combined total of 34,939, Orlando-Atlanta (Delta, with 10,642) and Tokyo-Sapporo (10,232).
ATA is hardly renowned in the world of luxury travel. Based in Tabriz, it serves destinations in eight countries (Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) and has an ageing fleet of 10 aircraft, including six MD-80s (out of production since 1999).