WILL EDUARDO EURNEKIAN TAKE UP MANAGEMENT OF GYUMRI AIRPORT?

Lragir.am
01-06-2007 17:32:57

On June 1 the new airport Zvartnots saw off the first passenger
to Moscow.

Yerevan-Moscow was the first flight from the new building dedicated
on May 25.

The new passenger terminal can receive up to 6 flights simultaneously
and 1000 passengers per hour. "We have all the facilities for
high-level services.

We have a duty free shop, benches, very nice benches, which look
to the runway, to Masis. We have cafes, a business lunch hall for
business class travelers. There is room for smokers. We want to
provide comfort for passengers," says Juan Pablo Guechigian, manager
of Zvartnots Airport. He says the airport can accept transit flights
as well. Meanwhile, arrangements on transit flights are already up
to airlines.

"It should underlie the policy of airlines. The government has
discussed it with the concession; it has created facilities for transit
flights. Now the airlines must look for it. I think Armavia has a lot
to do because in any country the national air company encourages
transit flights. Transit is favorable for them, for instance,
Dubai-Krasnodar transit flight via Armenia could be lucrative,
if they can offer moderate prices, and make it a transit flight,"
says Artem Movsisyan, head of the General Department of Civil Aviation.

The first passengers admired the new terminal of the airport. They
even refused to compare the new building with the old one, saying
they have nothing in common. The passengers who have seen European
airports say it is as good as the famous airports of the European
capitals. The reconstruction of Zvartnots Airport will finish in
2010. The new building of the passenger terminal for check-in is
to be built. For the time being, the passengers check in at the old
building. Besides, a two-floor car park will be built, after which
the fate of the round building will become clear. According to him,
it depends on the general examination of the round building, a seismic
resistance test. One thing is clear, even if it is not demolished,
in 2010 the round building will stop being used as an airport.

By the way, the manager of Zvartnots Eduardo Eurnekian has offered a
proposal to the government to take up the management of the airport
of Gyumri as well. Artem Movsisyan, head of the General Department of
Civil Aviation, says the offer is under consideration. If the offer is
accepted, it will included in the 30-year concession term of Zvartnots,
five of which have already passed.

In other words, the airport of Gyumri will be included in the
concession of Zvartnots. Artem Movsisyan considered it important to
underline once again that concession is not privatization. When the
term of concession expires, the airports remain the property of the
Republic of Armenia.