More Armenian airlines to get air tax benefit 

ArmInfo.Armenian airlines that were previously unable to take advantage of the "air tax" exemption will now be eligible. At its January 14 meeting, the  National Assembly's Committee on Economic Affairs approved the draft amendments to the Law "On State Duty," submitted by the Armenian  government for the first reading.

According to Armen Simonyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia, a  legislative rule has been in effect in the country since 2019,  exempting airlines from paying the so-called "air tax" when operating  new air routes. This rule has significantly increased the number of  flights to various destinations. At the same time, the Deputy  Minister noted that at a certain point, particularly after the  COVID-19 pandemic, some problems arose due to the fact that domestic  airlines with their own codes were unable to operate flights on new  routes, while continuing to operate flights based on agreements with  airport operators. As a result, these airlines were unable to take  advantage of the incentives, relying solely on so-called "wet  leasing." Now, due to various circumstances, including the airlines'  inability to operate new flights under their own codes, domestic  airlines that were unable to take advantage of the preference will  have one year to submit applications and take advantage of the  incentive.

Furthermore, another change to the law concerns the duration of the  incentive, which is currently valid for three years with the right to  extend it for another two years. However, some airlines have already  exhausted this limit. Therefore, they are granted the right to extend  this legislative provision for two years (24 months each).

The Deputy Minister emphasized that the rationale behind the "air  tax" was aimed at developing civil aviation. However, completely  abandoning it is currently considered premature, especially since the  RA government is implementing a program to subsidize each passenger  on new routes. Approximately 15 billion drams are collected annually  through the "air tax."