ArmInfo. The first plane of the Armenian national air carrier Fly Arna arrived at the Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took part in a ceremony dedicated to the official launch of the airline.
According to the RA Prime Minister's press service, the ceremony started with the arrival of Fly Arna's first Airbus A320 from Sharjah International Airport to Armenia, on which the delegation of the Air Arabia Group arrived.
The plane was solemnly welcomed at the Zvartnots airport with a "water arch".
The Prime Minister expressed hope that as a result of the activities of the air carrier, Armenia will become a crossroads "from where people travel and where they return".
During the official launch ceremony, Fly Arna announced the date of its first commercial flight. The first flight G6501 will operate from Zvartnots International Airport to Hurghada International Airport on July 3, 2022. The launch destinations of Fly Arna will also include direct flights connecting Armenia with Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh and Beirut.
It should be noted that Fly Arna is the national airline of Armenia and a joint venture company between the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group. The share of Air Arabia was 49% and, accordingly, ANIF' share is 51%. Based at Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport, (EVN/UDYZ), Armenia, FlyArna follows AirArabia's successful budget-friendly business model that prioritizes the provision of comfort, reliability and value for money travel. Earlier it was reported that Fly Arna plans to start air travel at the end of May. According to the business plan of the newly established company, the main destinations of Fly Arna will be Central Asia, the Middle East, and neighboring countries, as well as a fairly wide coverage of the Russian Federation. It should be noted that Air Arabia is an Arab low-cost airline that was established in 2009, headquartered in the city of Sharjah, operating in the passenger transportation market from the airports of Sharjah and Alexandria, as well as from four airports in Morocco, to the countries of the Middle East, South -East Asia, Europe and the CIS. The airline is the first low-cost carrier in the Middle East, and operates flights to 89 cities around the world. The airline has its own subsidiaries - Air Arabia Egypt in Alexandria (Egypt) and Air Arabia Maroc in Casablanca. It should be noted that in 2013, Armenia was left without a national air carrier due to the bankruptcy of Armavia, after which Air Armenia also left the country's aviation market, unable to withstand competition with Russian carriers.
