No Plane, No Flight: The Threat of Sanctions Against Russia Reaches Armenian Aviation

‘Armenia’ airline, which had three flights from Yerevan to Moscow, has been forced to limit itself to just one since March 24. The reason is the lack of aircraft flying to Russia. No plane means no flight, reports hetq.am.

Two of the company’s flights were to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport—one in the early afternoon and the other in the evening. The third flight was to Sheremetyevo. Additionally, the airline also connected Yerevan and Saint Petersburg, and earlier it had flights from Yerevan to Mineralnye Vody and Voronezh. While the airport in Voronezh is temporarily closed due to its proximity to the Russo-Ukrainian war zone, Mineralnye Vody is open; however, ‘Armenia’ has not flown there in recent times, focusing instead on Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

On March 24, the airline announced that due to sanctions affecting aircraft operations, it would temporarily suspend its two flights to Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo from March 24 until April 15, inclusive. The afternoon flight to Vnukovo will proceed as before. ‘Work is currently underway to find alternative solutions to the created situation,’ noted ‘Armenia’.

In fact, the problem has arisen not only for Russian airlines, whose operating aircraft are being reclaimed by their foreign owners (lessors), but also for non-Russian carriers that fly to the country.