ArmInfo. Fly Arna airline, in fact, could not withstand competition in the air carriage market. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on March 20 during government hour in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, answering a question from MP from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction Arsen Torosyan.
The MP, in particular, asked about the reasons for Fly Arna leaving the market, and what conclusions were drawn from the experience of airlines with state participation, the authorized capital of which was allocated 4.8 billion drams were allocated.
Answering the parliamentarian's question, Pashinyan recalled that during the pandemic, many airlines stopped operating flights to Armenia, including Ryanair, Wizz Air and others. Then, as Pashinyan noted, a decision was made to establish a domestic airline, the management of which was entrusted to a major player in the air transportation market. However, later the market situation changed somewhat, new companies appeared, which led to the fact that the Fly Arna airline, in fact, could not withstand competition in the air transportation market.
The Prime Minister also emphasized that serious developments took place during this period. In particular, European airspace was closed to Armenian civil aviation, since the EU included Armenian carriers in its "black lists," which, according to Pashinyan, is a bad story. Now these points are being studied. The Prime Minister recalled the law that was adopted by the National Assembly and concerns payment for services provided by the RA Civil Aviation Committee. This is done to enhance the Committee's ability to attract qualified personnel. "There is hope that very soon Armenia will leave the EU "black list," said the head of the Armenian Cabinet.
Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia Armen Simonyan said that Fly Arna airline had suspended its activities in the air transportation market for financial reasons. According to him, the airline's license has been suspended. The fact is that, according to the current legislation in Armenia, if an air carrier does not have at least one aircraft, the license is suspended for up to six months. If there is no airliner after six months, the license will be completely terminated. "The situation with Fly Arna is being studied and if relevant information is available, taking into account commercial secrets, it will be made available to the public," the deputy minister assured.
Earlier, ArmInfo, citing sources in Fly Arna, reported that the airline intends to leave the Armenian air transportation market. The company recalled its two planes. The reason for the recall and cessation of activity, as the source noted, was the failure of the Armenian side to fulfill the terms of the agreement on the establishment of the airline, one of which was the subsidization of passenger transportation by the RA government.
Notably, on December 10, 2021, Armenian National Airlines CJSC received state registration. The company operated under the Fly Arna brand - ARmenian National Airlines. The project to create a new airline became known in July 2020, when the then-current executive director of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) David Papazyan and the general executive director of the budget airline based in Sharjah, Arabia, Ali al Ali, signed an agreement. ANIF proposed to announce a competition for the best name for the new airline. Based on the results of the competition, it was announced in September what it would be called. Initially, it was known that the company would operate on a low-cost business model, in other words, it would be an Armenian low-cost airline (such airlines offer passengers low prices, but at the same time an incomplete, that is, not generally accepted, list of services).