There has never been such decline in passenger flow: Armenia’s Revazyan on COVID-19 situation
13:13, 13 March, 2020
YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. Chairwoman of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia Tatevik Revazyan says there is a major decline in passenger flow caused by the novel coronavirus, but states that it’s still too early to talk about its damages.
“It’s too early to talk about the damages, but such a case has never taken place in the whole world. There has never been such a decline in the passenger flow. Various specialists compare this situation with the Second World War”, she told reporters after the session of the commission preventing the spread of the COVID-19, adding that the economy really depends on that passenger flow.
Revazyan said there is really a drastic decline, but this problem doesn’t concern Armenia only. The other states suffered much greater losses. As of now RyanAir has cancelled its flights, but the WizzAir didn’t. “There are no so serious cancellations, but the passenger flow definitely declined”, she said.
In response to the question on closing air border with the risky countries, she said: “This seems a step that will solve all our problems, but this can make the problem more serious. If the passengers, who had already arrived, would have come via transit routes, the situation would be much more difficult. We have direct flights, can take measures in the airport for the arriving passengers to be separated from the remaining ones. The issue of the transit is much more difficult”, she said.
Cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in Armenia starting March 1. As of now, the total number of the confirmed cases is 6.
Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan