ArmInfo. Do not expect a drop in the prices of air tickets even as a result of the merger of the "ArmAeroNavigation" and the "Aviameteorological Center." Shahen Petrosyan, former Head of the Civil Aviation Department of Armenia (GDCA), stated in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent.
A week earlier the Armenian government approved a draft decision on the reorganization of "Armaeronavigatsia" and "Aviation Meteorological Center Zvartnots" by merger. Sergey Avetisyan, Head of the Central Administration of Civil Aviation, stated at the time, presenting the document, today air traffic services and meteorological data are provided by two independent legal entities, which allegedly artificially prolongs and loads the chain of services provided to airlines. By concentrating the whole chain - the organization of air traffic, communications, navigation, surveillance and meteorological services, as well as information services for air navigation in one structure, the government plans thereby to achieve better management quality and financial efficiency. In addition, as Sergey Avetisyan stated, the application of the Single Window principle will lead to a reduction in tariffs for the services provided in the aviation sector, since ZAO Armaeronavigatsia, de jure and de facto, will become a company providing a full service package, thereby eliminating need to pay overboard additional 30 thousand drams for meteorological service. This idea was immediately picked up by a number of media outlets that promised that soon the cost of air tickets would drop - right up to the declared 30 thousand drams for the air ticket.
According to the expert, the government's decision may be justified from the point of view of the effectiveness of the organization of work, however, it will not pay anything financially. Even if we roughly break these 30 thousand drams into an airplane with 100 to 150 pas- sage places, then a maximum of 200 AMD can be reduced. Thus, Shaghen Petrosyan stated, organizational and legal changes will not affect the pockets of citizens.
In addition, independent experts in the field of civil aviation stated to ArmInfo that the cost of air navigation services is traditionally about 1% of the ticket price, regardless of the flight range. The largest share in the cost of transportation is fuel, followed by airport fees and ground handling. In this sense, the GDCA is powerless to influence the management of Zvartnots airport.