We Do Not Plan to Grant Any Airline a Monopoly. Pashinyan

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, stated today during a meeting with professors and students at the econometric faculty of Yerevan State University that the government should not create an airline and grant it the status of a national carrier. This statement came in response to a question from one of the lecturers regarding the necessity of having a national carrier.

“We are currently in discussions with 'Corporation Armenia,' which has taken over the management of 'Zvartnots' and 'Shirak' airports, and we are jointly trying to understand where we have problems. The second direction is that we are carefully studying the government decision that announced the open skies policy to determine how well this decision meets our current requirements and future needs. We are attempting to thoroughly analyze how our relationships with other partners align with the standards set by ICAO,” he noted.

Pashinyan emphasized that there are opinions suggesting that national interests are not being taken into account and protected, adding that the government’s actions should not cause shocks. “There are opinions that domestic and national interests are not taken into account and protected. However, we should advance with balanced steps to avoid instigating shocks. Nonetheless, I agree that having local air carriers is a matter of strategic importance for us. However, as past experiences have shown, we do not plan to grant any company a monopoly or provide them with special status. We must create opportunities for all local carriers so that new companies can emerge in that field,” he stated.