History
The first time that the inhabitants of Tehran spotted an aircraft was in the late First World War when one was flying low over the city. As there was no airport in Tehran at the time, it landed at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs site. The aircraft components were originally manufactured in Russia but assembled in Tehran, and the flight was conducted by a Russian pilot.
At the time, developed countries were making rapid progress in technology and trade when a fledgling yet fast-growing industry, that is, aviation attracted their attention. Iran was no exception to that and showed an interest in developing this industry. In February 1925, the monopoly of aviation in Iran was granted to a German airline company, called Junkers. Opening its first branch in Iran a year later, Junkers imported several airplanes and started to offer passenger and airmail services to Mashhad, Shiraz, Bandarzali, and Bushehr through scheduled flights.
In 1938, having 20 aircraft, the Iranian Pilot Club was founded. In July 1946, the government of Iran established the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, which was initially run by simply one manager and one employee, both working in a room located in Shams-ol-Emareh (now a historical building in Tehran). A year later, the Directorate was relocated to Mehrabad Airport with a budget of over 300,000 Tomans.
On July 19, 1949, with the introduction of the Civil Aviation Law by the then Parliament of Iran, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation came under the Iranian Ministry of Roads. In 1974, the Directorate became an affiliate of the Ministry of War under the title of ‘Civil Aviation Organization’. Upon the success of the glorious Islamic Revolution on January 26, 1979, it was disaffiliated from the Ministry of War and joined with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development with the approval of the Revolutionary Council.
Iran Civil Aviation Authority is now responsible for exercising sovereignty over the aviation industry nationwide. On its achievements after the Islamic Revolution, suffice it to say it has succeeded in fulfilling myriad projects by simply applying domestic competencies, despite eight years of Holy Defense (the Iran-Iraq War) and withdrawal of foreign experts. This is evidenced by the number of airports in Iran which has risen from 22 since the period before the Revolution to 102, including joint civil military airports, civil commercial airports, civil general aviation airports, and civil small aerodromes, with 10 airports under construction currently. Passenger traffic has also tripled from nearly 3 million since the period before the Revolution to over 30 million per year now.