Wednesday, March 7 2018 14:06

ArmInfo.  The implementation of  the "Open Sky" policy resulted in an increase in the frequency of  flights from the airports of Armenia "Zvartnots" and "Shirak". This  was stated by the head of the Civil Aviation Department of Armenia  Sergey Avetisyan during a round table in the Russian-Armenian  (Slavonic) University. According to him, at present 25-30 flights a  day are carried out in Armenia. Only in 2017, 2,553 million  passengers used the services of two airports in the country, which is  20.6% higher than in 2016. Unfortunately, Avetisyan continued, the  air transportation market in Armenia is not sufficiently diversified  so that it would be possible to carry out more flights to various  countries of the world. The Head of the Central Administration of the  State Archives added that a significant growth of cargo air  transportation was registered. At the Yerevan airport "Zvartnots",  their volumes last year amounted to 22, 3 thousand tons, which is  22.1% higher than the figures of the previous year. Avetisyan also  reported on the research on the possibility of using more than 30  airfields built in Soviet times, of which 5 have been selected.  Currently, work is being done on drawing up estimates for their  modernization and attracting investments. In particular, as the head  of the GDCA noted, in June, Kapan airport will be ready for  operation, where works are currently being carried out on the  asphalting of the runway. There is a high probability that small  aircraft will be used when using these airports. The head of the GDCA  and the agreement signed on November 24, 2017 with the European Union  touched upon, including, among other things, the formation of a  common aviation space. "This agreement will allow the Armenian  airlines to use the EU internal market without restrictions, and the  airlines from the EU countries - the opportunities of Armenia to  enter the markets of third countries," said the head of the  department.