Head of Civil Aviation Committee Tatevik Revazyan Presented Clarifications to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a remote consultation at the government today regarding the current situation and development prospects of civil aviation in Armenia. The head of the Civil Aviation Committee, Tatevik Revazyan, participated in the discussion via video link.

According to the Prime Minister's press office, Revazyan provided clarifications to Pashinyan about the ongoing processes in the sector. She reported that on May 12, 2020, a meeting of the European Flight Safety Team took place, which led to the decision to include all air operators registered in Armenia in the EU flight safety list, based on observations made during the EU assessment visit in February of this year.

The reason for such a decision, according to the European Commission and the EU Flight Safety Committee, was the inadequate supervision and incomplete certification functions exercised by the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee over the years. The decision restricts the rights of Armenian-registered air operators to conduct flights to Europe (except for repatriation, humanitarian, and medical purposes). It should be noted that these airlines will continue to operate flights to other countries. At the same time, the decision will not affect the flights operated by international airlines in EU-Armenia and Armenia-EU directions.

Tatevik Revazyan stated that since the meeting of the European Flight Safety Team on November 20, 2019, the Committee has been implementing ongoing measures to improve flight safety standards in Armenia, and the issue of changing this decision can be discussed in November 2022. In this context, EU aviation authorities welcomed the commitment of the Armenian government to improve flight safety standards and expressed their willingness to cooperate.

The Prime Minister noted that, in light of the clarifications presented, the Civil Aviation Committee should develop a roadmap for further steps and a timeline for implementation by November 2022. According to the government leader, measures should be taken not only to improve flight safety standards but also to enhance the competitiveness of local aviation, which will allow for the development of civil aviation in Armenia.

During the meeting, a number of issues regarding the reforms of the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee were also discussed. Particular attention was paid to the involvement of qualified specialists in the structure, and actions related to institutional, legislative, and technical directions were presented.

The committee head mentioned that an inventory and diagnosis of existing problems within the structure has already been conducted, and solutions are being developed in this regard. Nikol Pashinyan instructed the head of the Civil Aviation Committee to present an action plan for the reforms of the Civil Aviation Committee within two weeks, based on discussions with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.