Friday, June 30 2017 17:13

ArmInfo. The Armenian air carrier "Taron-Avia", based in Gyumri airport "Shirak", on June 30, has started regular flights to Moscow, the press service of the General Department  of Civil Aviation (GDCA) of Armenia. Flights on the route Gyumri-Moscow-Gyumri until July 23 will be performed a week once - on Fridays. Starting from July 23, flights are expected twice a week: on Fridays and Sundays. From Gyumri "Shirak" flights will be carried out to the Moscow airport "Domodedovo".

Taron-Avia, which earlier carried out freight transportation and serves charter destinations outside of Armenia, opened regular flights from Gyumri to Krasnodar on April 25. Today, the air carrier then conducts regular flights to Rostov-on-Don and Samara and Krasnodar. The entire fleet of the carrier, which will consist of three leased Boeing-737-500, will be based at the airport "Shirak" in the city of Gyumri.

To remind, with the purpose of development of Gyumri airport "Shirak" the Armenian government has taken a number of steps. In particular, from December 31, 2014 the airport was released from payment of the so-called "air tax". Since January 1, 2017, the tariff for air navigation services has been reduced by 50%, and aviation services for airlines are free of charge. On November 21, 2016, the low-cost Russian airline Pobeda (Low-cost Airplane) opened ticket sales for new international flights from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport to Gyumri. Meanwhile, from the airport "Shirak" for a long time there were no flights at all. The implementation of the only Gyumri-Moscow flight in 2015 from the beginning of 2016 was suspended.

Airport "Shirak" is a part of the "International Airports of Armenia" CJSC, established by the well-known Argentine businessman of Armenian origin Eduardo Eurnekian. The main international airport "Zvartnots" was handed over to him in 2004 for concession management. Airport "Shirak" was built in 1961 and is an international airport that serves the second largest city in Armenia - the city of Gyumri (formerly Leninakan) of the Shirak region. In February 2017, it was announced that the company that manages Shirak for the improvement of the airport infrastructure intends to realize a $ 10 million investment project, $ 3 million of which will be invested this year.