Yerevan-Van first flight scheduled for April 3

YEREVAN, March 1. /ARKA/. Yerevan-Van first flight is scheduled for April 3, Novosti-Armenia news agency reported Friday referring to Ashot Soghomonyan, Head of “Narekavank Tour” company.

The first flight from Armenian capital Yerevan to Van city located in eastern Turkey was earlier scheduled for September 2011.

 “There will be two Yerevan-Van-Yerevan flights a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays,” Soghomonyan said.

The ticket cost is $250, but passengers can get a 20% discount during the first month. 

BoraJet Turkish airlines will operate the flight on 68-seat planes.

There are currently no diplomatic relations established between Turkey and Armenia: official Ankara closed the border in 1993. The uneasy relationship between the countries is caused particularly by Ankara’s support to Azerbaijan on Karabakh problem and Turkey’s overreaction to international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Empire. 

Normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations started in autumn 32008 initiated by Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan. On October 10, 2009, foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey signed protocols about establishing diplomatic relations and developing bilateral relations to be ratified by the countries’ parliaments.

But on April 22, 2010 Armenian president signed a decree to suspend the process as Turkey is not ready to go on and ratification of the protocols by Turkish parliament is frozen. -0-