Press TV - Iran’s media say the country’s private carrier Mahan Air plans to establish a direct flight route between Tehran and Pakistan’s northern city of Lahore.

The two-way route that would be launched on 18 December 2017 could help further promote economic ties between Iran and Pakistan, according to a report by IRNA news agency.

Mahan Air planes would shuttle between Tehran and Pakistan’s second largest city after Karachi on Mondays and Thursdays, the report added.

There is currently one direct flight route to Lahore from Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad.  The route through which a plane flies between the two cities once every week is operated by Iran’s Taban Air.

Mahan Air is also preparing to launch its own flight route between Lahore and Mashhad – Iran’s second largest city after capital Tehran and the biggest pilgrimage city in the Shia world. The airline has already conducted a trial flight to the same effect, IRNA added in its report on the issue.

Another Iranian private airline – Kish Air – flies a plane once every week between Tehran and Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.  The route was made operational this past September.

Iran’s leading carrier airline – Iran Air – also flies a plane once every Thursday between Tehran and Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.

Each year, thousands from Pakistan visit Iran on tourism trips as well as pilgrimages to Mashhad where the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) – the eighth Imam in the Shia world – is located, the report added.

The population of Shias in Pakistan is estimated to be at least 16 million from a total of above 190 million.