Taron-Avia Announces Decision to Cease Operations

Taron-Avia LLC has decided to provide clarifications and comments regarding the reasons for its decision to cease operations. This was announced in a statement by the management of Taron-Avia LLC.

“We present several important facts concerning the operations of the Taron-Avia airline: Taron-Avia LLC commenced its regular air commercial communications in the Armenian aviation market on April 25, 2017, operating flights from Shirak International Airport in Gyumri to several cities in the Russian Federation, and later from Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan to the Russian capital on a daily basis, ceasing flights on January 15, 2018.”

“On August 1 of this year, Taron-Avia carried out a special commission by the Government of Armenia to evacuate our compatriots who had fallen victim to the abuses of the R&AR tourist airline from Hurghada, Egypt.”

“The airline began flights from Yerevan to Voronezh and Mineralnye Vody, Russia, on May 1 of this year, using its Boeing 737-500 aircraft (registration: EK-73775), replacing Armenia airline.”

“In the history of Armenian aviation, Taron-Avia was the only airline to exit the aviation market without any financial obligation—meaning without having a single AMD debt to the Armenian State Budget or to any legal and natural persons.”

“In 2019, Taron-Avia submitted an application to EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) for a TCO (Third Country Operators) certificate, which allows third-country airlines to operate within the EU airspace. Along with the application, various documents concerning the airline's operations were submitted, which contained documents mischaracterizing flight safety due to a significant error made by the responsible staff member coordinating the mentioned process. Consequently, an inspection was conducted by EASA, which identified 'deficiencies' arising from this human factor.”

“Nevertheless, EASA granted Taron-Avia LLC a six-month period to address the identified 'deficiencies'. This means that the airline must present to the commission reasons for 'violations' that do not actually exist, the measures taken to eliminate them, and steps to prevent similar errors in the future. However, we, being concerned and fearful that we could be placed in the EU's so-called 'blacklist', which could seriously impact the statehood of the Republic of Armenia and the international reputation of Armenian civil aviation, decided, as a result of discussions and negotiations with the leadership of the RA Civil Aviation Committee, to undertake the extremely difficult (considering the impeccable years of operation) but, in our opinion, the 'only' correct option—to cease the operations of Taron-Avia.”

“On December 9 of this year, the European Commission updated its 'blacklist' (EU Air Safety List), which includes countries and specific airlines whose aircraft are either prohibited from entering the EU airspace or are subject to certain restrictions. Currently, 115 airlines are prohibited from entering the EU territory, and Taron-Avia LLC is not among them. Of these, 109 represent 15 countries, meaning that due to non-compliance with European aviation safety standards, these countries and their registered air carriers have ended up on the 'blacklist'. The Republic of Armenia is not among them.”

“Finally, we want to add that Taron-Avia LLC has always prioritized and highly valued flight safety and has operated under the principle of maintaining it at a high level throughout its activities. The aircraft we operated have always been technically sound (all necessary technical maintenance work has been carried out on time), fit for flights, which is further evidenced by the fact that there have been no aviation accidents or serious incidents recorded during the operation of Taron-Avia's civil aircraft,” the statement said.

It is worth noting that on November 6, a message was posted on the Facebook page of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Republic of Armenia, stating: “We inform you that due to the inspection conducted at Taron-Avia LLC and the identified deficiencies, the operator's certificate of the airline has been suspended, with a six-month period provided to address the deficiencies. However, the company has made the decision to cease operations. Considering the above, the operation of operator’s certificate No. 049 of Taron-Avia LLC has been terminated.”