The Armenian National Carrier ARMAVIA has declared itself bankrupt. Initially a statement by the airline said that it will stop operating on 1 April, but reports from Yerevan say that the airline did not operate flights from Zvarnots International Airport as from today. A statement by the company said that the owners had been subsidizing losses in the airline from their other businesses. Armenian media reports that the airline currently owes US$ 5 million to the owners of Yerevan airport, apart from other creditors.
The decision is a blow to land-locked Armenia which increasingly depends on air communications for its interaction with the outside world. The country's borders with two of its neighbours, Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed as a result of the ongoing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Land borders with Georgia and Iran are open, but the transit traffic to Russia through Georgia has also been much reduced in recent years due to the current state of Russian-Georgian relations. A few international airlines, including Air France and some Russian airlines operate to and from Yerevan but many international airlines avoid the airport due to what some describe as business unfriendly environment
Armavia attributed its collapse to the world global and aviation crisis. The company had been operating for twelve years.
source: commonspace.eu with Armenian media
