A number of female Air France cabin crew staff are resisting an airline ruling that they should wear a headscarf when outside the plane in Tehran, according to a union representative.

Key points: Airline to resume flights to the Iranian capital on April 17

Airline to resume flights to the Iranian capital on April 17 Air France says the headscarf ruling is not new

Air France says the headscarf ruling is not new Union claims airline will penalise cabin crew defying order

The airline plans to resume flights to the Iranian capital on April 17.

"Every day we have calls from worried female cabin crew who tell us that they do not want to wear the headscarf," said Christophe Pillet of the SNPNC union.

The union is asking Air France management to make it a voluntary measure.

Company chiefs sent out a memo informing female staff they would be required "to wear trousers during the flight with a loose fitting jacket and a scarf covering their hair on leaving the plane", Mr Pillet said.

According to Mr Pillet, management raised he possibility of "penalties" for anyone refusing to observe the dress code.

Air France told the AFP news agency that all air crew were "obliged like other foreign visitors to respect the laws of the countries to which they travelled".

"Iranian law requires that a veil covering the hair be worn in public places by all women on its territory," the airline said.

"This obligation, which does not apply during the flight, is respected by all international airlines which fly to Iran."

Air France added that the headscarf rule when flying to certain destinations was "not new", since it had applied before flights to Tehran were stopped and also to crew flying to Saudi Arabia.

The airline announced in December the resumption of Paris-Tehran flights after they were suspended in 2008 when Iran was hit with international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.

AFP