ArmInfo. The Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia has no data on possible withdrawal of Air Arabia from the Armenian market, Armenia's Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration Armen Simonyan told ArmInfo.
In the request, the agency raised the issue of rumors circulating about Air Arabia's intentions to leave the Armenian air transportation market as early as December of this year and withdraw from the authorized capital of the established joint airline Fly Arna. The reason for this, as sources close to the Arab airline told ArmInfo, was the failure of the Armenian side to fulfill a number of agreed upon agreements. According to the same sources, Air Arabia even recalled one of its two airliners.
The department's response notes that the RA Civil Aviation Committee does not have such data. "Moreover, Fly Arna currently continues its practical activities," the deputy minister noted in his response. Let us remind you that on December 10, 2021, Armenian National Airlines CJSC received state registration. The company will operate under the Fly Arna - ARmenian National Airlines brand.
The project to create a new airline became known in July 2020, when the executive director of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) David Papazyan and the general executive director of the budget airline Air Arabia based in Sharjah, Arabia, Ali al Ali signed an agreement. ANIF proposed to announce a competition for the best name for the new airline. Based on the results of the competition, it was announced in September that it would be called Fly Arna.
Initially, it was known that the newly created company would operate according to the low-cost business model Air Arabia, in other words, it would be an Armenian low-cost airline (such airlines offer passengers low prices, but at the same time an incomplete, that is, not a generally accepted list of services).