Air Armenia and Armenian International Airlines likely to become Armenia’s national air carriers
18.06.2013,
16:46
YEREVAN, June 18. /ARKA/. Levon Ghazarian from the presidential Public Council said today two companies- Air Armenia and Armenian International Airlines have good chances to become Armenia’s national air carriers.
YEREVAN, June 18. /ARKA/. Levon Ghazarian from the presidential Public Council said today two companies- Air Armenia and Armenian International Airlines have good chances to become Armenia’s national air carriers.
On June 6 the Armenian government announced that it will seek to replace Armavia airline that ceased flights from April 1 with up to three domestic carriers to be sel ected on a competitive basis. Levon Ghazarian said today this move will result in lower prices for airline tickets.
"After national airlines are chosen they will have to undergo a series of procedures and meet a set of requirements and in all likelihood they will be ready to begin operating flights g from the middle of next year,” Ghazarian said.
One month after it stopped flights Armavia submitted written proposals to the government asking it to help it avoid bankruptcy with tax breaks and other measures that would support its renewed operations. It particularly said it could resume flights if it were exempted fr om a fixed $25 tax on all tickets, got a 30 percent price discount for airport ground services and were allowed to import fuel for its own planes. Armavia operated more than 40 cities in the former Soviet Union, Europe and the Middle East which were discontinued immediately after the announcement of the move on April 1.
Ghazarian said Armavia has all the necessary infrastructure and may return to work under the guidance of a competent manager. But he also reminded that the company is to face a long string of litigations because of having more than 20 offices in different countries and more than 33,000 contracts.
Air Armenia operates cargo charter flights to the CIS countries, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The company began operations in 2003. At present, it runs 8 aircraft: An12, AN24, AN26, Yak40, TU134, TU154, IL76 and IL86.
The Armenian International Airlines was a private airline operating international passenger flights since 2002. In 2005 it merged with Armavia. -0-
