17:23,
YEREVAN, JUNE 10, ARMENPRESS. The first plane of Armenia’s national airline Fly Arna landed at Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport on June 10.
The Airbus A320 plane carried the delegation of Air Arabia Group.
The ceremony was attended by Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, representatives of the government, the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), the Civil Aviation Committee and the Zvartnots International Airport.
Fly Arna is a joint venture company between ANIF and Air Arabia Group.
The airline will firstly operate flights in 4 directions – Egypt (Hurgada and Sharm El-Sheikh), Kuwait and Beirut.
The first flight will take place on July 3 to Hurghada.
ANIF Executive Director Davit Papazian told reporters that safety is the most important for Fly Arna.
The company also plans to operate flights to European countries in the future. Papazian hoped that the EU black list for Armenia will be revised soon.
Fly Arna CEO Antony Price said in turn: “We look forward to seeing how this airline is going to further expand in coming weeks and months. We are waiting for several directions by which Armenians will be able to go for vacation, as well as bring other people to Armenia to reveal the country here”.
Currently, Fly Arna has 63 employees, 85% of whom are Armenians. “The only area where we have not involved Armenians, are the pilots and flight attendants. We try to get also Armenians involved”, Antony Price said.
Fly Arna’s Airbus A320 aircraft consists of 174 seats. The company is planning to have its second aircraft when the other routes are approved. The company plans to have 3-5 planes in the next two years.
Customers can book their tickets by visiting the Fly Arna website, contacting the call center or via travel agencies.