Agreement Reached with Greek SpotAir Company to Organize Two Flights from Hurghada to Yerevan

In connection with returning approximately 100 Armenian citizens stranded in Hurghada to Armenia, an extraordinary government meeting was held today. The agenda included the issue of reallocating funds in the Republic of Armenia's 2019 state budget, making amendments to the government's decision N 1515-N dated December 27, 2018, and allocating funds to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

The government decided to allocate 47,198.8 thousand drams from the reserve fund of the government's 2019 state budget to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the transportation of citizens from Egypt during the month of July (under the category of 'Other Expenses' in the economic classification of budgetary expenditures).

The decision comes after 119 Armenian citizens were left stranded due to the cancellation of flight OTF 3703 from Hurghada to Yerevan on July 25. According to information from the Armenian Embassy, this flight was canceled due to A&R travel operator's non-fulfillment of financial obligations to the Greek airline Orange to Fly. It is also worth noting that the flight scheduled for July 29 on the same airline from Hurghada to Yerevan has also been canceled, indicating that over 100 more Armenian citizens (the exact number is being clarified) will face a similar issue.

The Armenian Embassy has reached an agreement with the Greek SpotAir company to organize two flights from Hurghada to Yerevan on July 26 and July 29, respectively. For the flight on July 26, the aforementioned airline has requested a cash payment of $47,121 prior to the flight, while for the flight on July 29, SpotAir requires a bank transfer to be completed before take-off.

Considering the untenable situation faced by Armenian citizens in Hurghada, the government has deemed it appropriate to agree to the terms presented by SpotAir.