Fly Arna airline project has failed - Pashinyan

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. The public-private partnership to create Fly Arna airline has failed, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan admitted on Wednesday.

On January 29, 2024, Fly Arna, a joint venture between the Armenian National Interest Foundation (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group, announced the suspension of flights.

On March 19, Armenia's Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Armen Simonyan said that the airline's license was suspended due to a lack of aircraft.

Simonyan recalled that the project was approved during the pandemic, when a number of major airlines, including low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizzair, temporarily stopped flying to Armenia.

According to Pashinyan, when the market conditions underwent some changes and other companies, including several local ones, re-entered the market, Fly Arna could not withstand the competition.

"Now the history of this company's activity is being studied, and if cases subject to criminal-legal assessment are revealed, such an assessment will definitely be given," Pashinyan emphasized.

"As for the project itself, there are no optimistic prospects for its continuation," the Prime Minister said.

He also noted that another problem is closely related to this one - the quality of infrastructure for civil aviation, including flight services. Because of that, as the Prime Minister noted, several airlines registered in Armenia are still on the EU black list. -0-