FlyOne Armenia and Shirak Avia airlines concerned over RA  government`s decision 

ArmInfo.  "We, the current domestic air carriers serving more than one destination, would like to express our deep concern over the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia regarding the approval of the Program for Assistance to the Development of Passenger Transportation by Air in  the Republic of Armenia," reads a joint statement by Armenian  airlines FlyOne Armenia (Yerevan) and Shirak Avia (Gyumri).

At the same time, the air carriers note that this was not agreed upon with the current airlines and does not follow from the logic of the interests of the development of the aviation sector of Armenia. Such a program, the stated goal of which is to promote the development of tourism, in its current form, as stated in the report, carries a number of dangerous side effects that can seriously undermine the development prospects of local air carriers and further aggravate the already existing unequal conditions of competition with foreign air  carriers, given that the Armenian aviation sector is on the so-called "black list" of the EU and a number of other countries (Israel, UAE, etc.).

Emphasizing the priority of the national interests of the Republic of Armenia, we call for the creation of effective mechanisms to protect the legitimate interests of local air carriers, FlyOne Armenia and Shirak Avia noted in a joint statement.

On April 23, the government decided to provide financial incentives to air carriers operating flights to new destinations that were not previously served.

As stated in the explanation to the document, new destinations are those settlements outside the Republic of Armenia (with all  international airports serving the given city), where the number of flights performed by any airline during the 12 months preceding the start of the first flight of the beneficiary airlines within the framework of this support program did not exceed 14 at a time during the IATA summer period (from the last Sunday of March to the last Saturday of October) and 10 during the IATA winter period (from the last Sunday of October to the last Saturday of March)."

The beneficiaries of the program can be air carriers that are based in Armenian airports, perform flights at least once a week (including those cancelled due to force majeure), perform at least one regular flight to Gyumri, and also have at least two aircraft - either owned or leased.

FLYONE ARMENIA (www.flyone.am) is the leading air carrier of Armenia. It was founded in 2021. The airline's fleet consists of Airbus A320 and Airbus A319 aircraft. They comply with all safety standards of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and EASA.

Shirak Avia LLC was registered in the Republic of Armenia in 2019. In January 2021, the airline received an AIR OPERATOR CERTIFICATE number AM AOC 072 from the Civil Aviation Committee of the Republic of Armenia, which allows it to operate civil aircraft. In October 2021 - a certificate for the performance of regular commercial air transportation (REGULAR COMMERCIAL AIR SERVICES CERTIFICATE),  allowing the airline to perform regular flights to the following  destinations - from Zvartnots Airport (Yerevan): Yerevan - Moscow - Yerevan, Yerevan - Krasnodar - Yerevan, Yerevan - Rostov-on-Don - Yerevan, Yerevan - Sochi - Yerevan, Yerevan - Samara - Yerevan, Yerevan - St.  Petersburg - Yerevan; from Shirak Airport (Gyumri): Gyumri - Moscow - Gyumri, Gyumri - Krasnodar - Gyumri, Gyumri - Rostov-on-Don - Gyumri, Gyumri - Sochi - Gyumri, Gyumri - Samara - Gyumri and Gyumri - St. Petersburg - Gyumri.