Syrian airlines reroutes flights to Armenia through Iraq and Iran

YEREVAN, October 19. / ARKA /. The government-owned Syrian Airlines had to reroute its flights from Aleppo to Yerevan through the airspace of Iran and Iraq after Turkey closed its airspace for all Syrian aircrafts, the company’s office in Yerevan told ARKA.

"Due to the fact that Turkey has closed its airspace to Syrian planes, we will be operating flights through Iran and Iraq on every Tuesday," an employee of the office said. She said this will not entail an increase in ticket price.

Currently, the cost of an economy class ticket for Yerevan-Aleppo-Yerevan is about 145 thousand drams (about $350) and 231 thousand drams (about $570) is the cost of a business class ticket.

The Armenian community in Syria was until recently at about 90,000 people. They played a significant role in social, political and cultural life of this country. The largest community of over 80 thousand was in Aleppo, Armenians live also in Damascus, Latakia and other cities. Because of the civil war many Armenians fled to other countries, including Armenia. -0-