Your trusted source

Armenian airports crossed the 2.5 million passenger threshold as of December 25, 2017, a 21 percent rise compared to the past year’s figures, a top civil aviation official told a news conference on Tuesday.

Sergey Avetisyan, Head of the General Department on Civil Aviation adjunct to the Armenian Government, noted the passenger traffic through Zvartnots Airport accounted for 2.4 million people, while Shirak Airport welcomed 100,000 passengers.

The chief of the civil aviation said the flights-landings in Armenian airports also recorded an increase. “The flights over Armenia’s territory have also sharply increased, recording about 40% growth,” he added.

According to him, the so-called Free Route Airspace concept has been practiced in Armenia since December this year, which allows airlines operating transit flights to enter Armenia’s airspace from everywhere to later fly over and exit from the country without facing any obstacles.

“This helps air companies to save resources – both fuel and time. This measure is aimed at making the Armenian airspace more attractive for foreign airlines to carry our flights over our country,” he stressed.

Speaking about cargo transportation, Sergey Avetisyan said that this year a total of 20,500 tons of goods have been transported through Zvartnots International Airport, up by over 30% compared to last year. 
According to him, 28 airlines operate 30-35 regular flights a day in Armenia as of December.

The official also pointed out the growth registered in the geography of the flights. “New destinations, air routes were launched, namely the flights to Astana, Damascus, Hurghada, Tel Aviv, Beirut and Minsk,” he said.

Sergey Avetisyan added that Armenia Aircompany is planning to launch flights to Lyon and Cologne in mid-April 2018.

In the official’s words, Turkmen Airlines will launch the first ever direct flight from Ashgabad to Yerevan tomorrow, which be the first flight in the history of Armenia to be carried out using the Fifth Freedom of the Air right.

The flight routes are Ashgabad-Yerevan, Yerevan-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Yerevan and Yerevan-Ashgabad to be operated once per week. “If the flights enjoy our passenger’s demand, I think there will be a possibility to increase their number,” the civil aviation chief said.