Minister: There is hope for quick removal of Armenia`s civil aviation  from  EU `black list`

ArmInfo. One of the main tasks of the Armenian government in the field of civil aviation is to remove it from the "black list" of the European Union. The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan stated on October 31 at the RA NA Committees hearings on the draft state budget of Armenia for 2024.

He noted that work in this direction is proceeding at an active pace.  Of the 41 requirements, 30 have already been met, and there is hope  for the early removal of civil aviation from this list.  The Minister  noted that negotiations are ongoing to launch direct flights with  China and India. In the latter case, the issue is moving forward very  successfully. Both Armenian and Indian air carriers are showing  interest in operating flights in the Yerevan-New Delhi direction.

Since June 2020, all airlines registered in the Republic of Armenia  have been included in the EU flight safety blacklist, which means  they do not have the right to enter the EU airspace for commercial  purposes.  This was due to the discovery of deficiencies related to  flight safety as a result of European inspections carried out by the  Civil Aviation Committee and a number of Armenian airlines. This  means that the presence of weak air safety mechanisms in airlines  registered in Armenia and the Civil Aviation Committee that controls  them has forced the EU to impose a temporary ban on flights of  Armenian air carriers, since the EU considers them not to meet  European flight safety standards. The air safety blacklist,  officially called the EU Air Safety List, consists of two annexes.  Appendix "A" includes those airlines activities of which in the skies  of the EU are completely prohibited, and Appendix "B" includes  airlines for which the ban applies only to specific aircraft. Armenia  is included in Appendix A. This means that all Armenian air carriers  are prohibited from entering EU airspace. The European Commission,  based on the opinion of specialists from the EU Air Safety Committee  (ASC), periodically updates the blacklist. The committee is headed by  the European Commission itself, and is assisted by EASA - the  European Aviation Safety Agency. The list was last updated on  November 23 last year. It included all eight airlines registered in  Armenia.