LONDON— British Airways plans to resume flights to Tehran Thursday evening, the latest restored link between the West and Iran since the lifting of nuclear sanctions in January.

A Boeing 777 wide-body jetliner is scheduled to take off from London around 9 p.m., bound for Tehran, the first flight into Iran by the airline since 2012. It suspended service then amid tightening Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, which curtailed demand for travel to the country.

British Airways plans to operate the service six times a week. The airline said the new service had received “a huge amount of interest.”

The lifting of sanctions has “allowed Iran to reopen for business and paved the way for commerce to re-connect with Iran’s economy, which is the second largest in Middle East and North Africa, with a diverse range of businesses and industries,” said Sean Doyle, British Airways’s network chief. The carrier also expects Iran to be a major draw for tourists.

The U.K. carrier had announced it would resume flights in February, part of the gradual warming of relations between London and Tehran. The decision to restore the link came only weeks after sanctions on the Islamic Republic were lifted in January after Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear program.