Armenian GDCA head: growth  in price of air tickets occurred for objective reasons

ArmInfo. Head of the Main Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia (GDCA Sergey Avetisyan believes that the rise in prices for air tickets has objective reasons. "Flights to the most demanded areas in Armenia have risen in price, which is connected with the peak of the tourist season," he told journalists on August 17 after the meeting Government.

The head of GDCA reminded that from year to year, Armenian citizens become eyewitnesses of the process, when from the end of July, as well as on the eve of New Year's holidays, the tourism industry of countries reacts with price increases. At the same time, he does not agree with the statement that the situation in the sphere is chaotic. According to Avetisyan, the rise in prices for air tickets is conditioned by seasonality, which is characteristic not only of Armenia, but of the whole world.

The second aspect of the rise in price, Sergey Avetisyan explained, was that the systematic work that is consistently conducted within the framework of the "open skies" policy regarding its implementation strengthened Armenia's position on the world aviation map. As a result, the demand for flights to Armenia exceeded expectations - airlines made a mistake in their initial forecasts and, in the absence of an adequate offer, tickets went up. It is noteworthy that the increase in the number of passengers arriving in Armenia in relation to departing passengers has been recorded - the flow of passengers has increased by 30%.

For today, according to Avetisyan, air carriers are trying to adjust according to demand both the flight schedule and the type of airliner performing the flight in order to provide the appropriate capacity. A number of airlines, in particular, as the official indicated, Qatar Airways, UIA, S7, Aeroflot, VIM Avia, Nordwind changed the type of liner, increasing the number of seats. As Avetisyan pointed out, the prices for air tickets will start to decline dramatically in mid-September - two to three times.

At the same time, the head of the aviation regulator once again noted that the management is not authorized to interfere in the commercial activities of airlines and to influence the tariff policy they conduct. "GDCA may indirectly affect the pricing process by providing equal competitive conditions, permanent monitoring of the sphere and the creation of an adequate legislative field," he said.