‘Open Sky’ Good Progress For Armenia’s Aviation Market, Says Deputy

‘OPEN SKY’ GOOD PROGRESS FOR ARMENIA’S AVIATION MARKET, SAYS DEPUTY MINISTER

10:36 * 04.07.14

In an interview with Tert.am, a deputy minister of economy, Sergey
Avetisyan, said he thinks the 50% increase in the flights from and to
Armenia is a significant progress for the country which adopted the
‘Open Sky’ policies less than a year ago.

“We are hopeful that the positive records will be maintained; we are
working in that direction, lifting all the restrictions and trying
to involve such well known companies as British Airlines, Qatar Air,
Etihad and so on.”

Asked why Armenian citizens prefer nonetheless to travel to Europe
and other countries abroad through Georgia (from where flights can
cost as much as EURO 50 in case of booking a ticket in advance),
the deputy minister said their current efforts are targeted at making
the local aviation market attractive to the Armenian citizens

“We are doing all our best to prevent people from flying through
Georgia. If they want to spend a day in Tbilisi, they are welcome to
do so. But wasting five hours on departure and return is not worth it.

We seek to prevent the Georgian market from being more attractive to
our citizens,” he answered.

Avetisyan confirmed Minister Karen Cshmarityan’s earlier statement
that they are now conducting talks with different air companies in
an effort to make international flights cheaper for the Armenian
citizens. “Yes, we are conducting multi-lateral talks, but there are
also budgetary companies we are negotiating with. This is a question
on a little bit different platform. I cannot specify timeframes,
but negotiations are really under way,” he said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress