A t the present time, measures aimed at the implementation of reforms and developments in the field of aviation are not left out in the vision of the economic development of any country. In this regard, the Republic of Armenia is not an exception either. The aviation claims to become one of the stimulating factors for the development of the RA economy. Some factors contribute to this, particularly the fact that air transport is used not only for international passenger transportation but also for cargo transportation. 

Since the independence of the Republic of Armenia, civil aviation and air transport played a key role in the country’s security and economy, especially considering the RA geographical location and landlocked status. Given the above, this field has always been in the spotlight. It should be noted, that the international civil aviation is a dynamically developing field, and there are changes in the standards adopted in the field, which the RA aviation must satisfy to occupy a certain position in the international market. To understand the rate of development of the field and the current situation in the RA civil aviation field between 2018-2022 and the role and importance of this field in the RA economy in general, the problems faced by this field and development prospects, as well as the steps taken to overcome the existing challenges, were studied in this article. 

According to the 2022 RA Civil Aviation report, as of December 31, 2022, there are 9 airlines operating in Armenia with an aircraft operator’s certificate, 5 of which are holders of a certificate of regular commercial air transportation. In 2021, the number of foreign airlines entering the RA market was 4, and in 2022 it was 9. In 2022, passenger transportation by local airlines (Zvartnots and Shirak airports) that is 25% of the total passenger transportation was carried out by Armenian airlines. 

Passenger traffic 

T he volume of passenger traffic is one of the priority indicators of the development of the aviation field. In 2022, the volume passenger transportation carried out by air in RA increased by 54% compared to 2021 and by 22.7% compared to 2018. The arrival of Russian citizens to Armenia due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022 perhaps had an effect on the 54% increase in passenger traffic. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the share of the air passenger transport in the volume of total passenger transport is small, which fluctuated between 1․5-2․3% in 2018-2022.  

Cargo transportation 

T he influence of the aviation on the RA economy is also characterized by the indicator of cargo transportation volumes. Based on the data of the Statistical Committee (SC) in 2022, the volume of the RA air cargo transportation amounted to about 23.2 thous. tons (13,000 tons accounted for exports, and 10.2 thous. for imports), which increased by 34.1% compared to 2021 results, and by 28.2% compared to 2018 results. It should be noted that during the considered period, export volumes by air increased by 47.7%, and import volumes by 20%. 

Contrary to the above-mentioned, it should be stated, that the volume of air cargo transportation in the RA occupies only 0.1% share of the total volume of cargo transportation, which did not change during the considered period. This can be explained by the fact that air freight is relatively expensive, which is not very beneficial for business entities.
 

In 2020, a negative result was recorded in terms of the volumes of the RA air passenger and cargo transportation compared to other years of the given period. In particular, during the observed period, the volumes of cargo transportation carried out by the RA air were reduced by 22.7% and the volume of passenger transportation by 75.4% compared to 2019. This can be explained by two force majeure situations that started in RA in 2020, such as the COVID19 pandemic and the 44-Day Artsakh War.  

Currently, the air cargo transportation is carried out by 2 air-cargo airlines Lufthansa Cargo AG and Coyne Airways. Coyne Airways carries out air cargo transportation mainly in Lezh-Yerevan and Tbilisi-Yerevan-Lezh directions. And the Lufthansa Cargo AG company started a regular air cargo transportation on the Frankfurt-Yerevan-Frankfurt route since July 30, 2023.  

Main problems and development perspectives

W hen talking about the development perspectives, it is necessary to state the fact that Armenian airlines have been established in the RA market, which serve as a cornerstone for the further development of the field. Below are the Armenian airlines operating in the RA aviation market:

1. The establishment of FLY ARNA company and its activities in the Armenian aviation market are noteworthy. FLY ARNA company is a joint venture of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia. Fly Arna follows the successful budget business model operated by Air Arabia, which focuses on providing air travel comfort, reliability and high quality at low cost. Fly Arna carries out flights to Baghdad, Delhi, Kuwait, Moscow, Mumbai, Sharjah, Sochi, Saint Petersburg, Georgia, Tehran, Vnukovo and Yerevan.
2. ARMENIAN AIRLINES LLC was founded in December 2022. The airline is focused on the development of the global route network, as well as on the expansion of the convenient program model of transit flights from Yerevan. The initial route program of Armenian Airlines includes 4 international destinations from Zvartnots Airport: Moscow, Samara, Sochi and Vladikavkaz. 
3. Armenia airline (now AIR DILIJANS) was founded at the end of 2015. 100% of the shares are private owned. The airline carries out regular flights to Tbilisi, Tel-Aviv, Baghdad, Moscow, Voronezh and Mineralnye Vody. Currently, the Civil Aviation Committee has suspended Air Dilijans airline’s Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which means that the carrier cannot operate flights until the certificate is restored. 
4. Shirak Avia LLC was founded in the RA in 2019, however it received an Air Operator Certificate by the RA Civil Aviation Committee in 2021. It carries out flights from Zvartnots and Shirak airports to the following directions: Moscow, Krasnodar, Doni Rostov, Sochi, Samara, Saint Petersburg.   
5. Armenia Airways airline was founded in 2013, however it started to carry out its extensive activities since 2018. Currently, it carries out flights in Yerevan-Moscow and Yerevan-Tehran directions.  
6. NovAir LLC was founded in 1999 by Atlantis Holding in Armenia. Between 2000-2003 it made charter flights to CIS countries, and in 2015 it started a joint cooperation with Austrian Airlines and Czech Airlines until 2018. Currently, the airline does not operate flights, despite the fact that it has not stopped its operations.
7. FLYONE ARMENIA company was founded in Armenia and entered the Armenian aviation in 2021. Currently, the company carries out flights to the cities of the Russian Federation, such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Sochi, Mineralnye Vody, European cities, such as Paris, Lyon, Milan, Middle East cities of Beirut, Dubai and Tel Aviv.  
8. Armenian Helicopters airlines was founded in 2018. It offers a variety of services, including charter transportation by light class helicopters in Armenia to Georgia, Turkey and Russia.  
9. Skyball airline is the only airline organizing balloon flights in the RA. It carries out balloon trips in the territory of the Republic of Armenia since 2014. 

It should be noted, that WIZZ AIR is one of the international budget airlines active in the RA (in other words, a low-cost airline, that provides customers with relatively cheap air tickets at the expense of paying for some services). It was founded in 2003. WIZZ AIR offers flights in the following directions, such as Yerevan-Milan, Yerevan-Rome, Yerevan-Larnaka, Yerevan-Prague, Yerevan- Abu Dhabi, Yerevan-Sofia, Yerevan-Venice, Yerevan-Dortmund, Yerevan-Vienna.  

It should be emphasized that Armenia is also a transit zone. The fact of the RA becoming a transit zone is due to the geopolitical developments taking place in recent times (especially in the last 1 year due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict), which is also an important stimulus for the development of the RA aviation. 

 Along with all this, the RA aviation field faces problems, the most important of which and the one requiring an urgent solution was the inclusion of Armenian airlines in the European Union (EU) flight safety “black list” in 2020, as a result of which airlines with an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in Armenia are prohibited from entering the EU territory. Based on the RA Civil Aviation report, the main reasons for this were the insufficient number of qualified inspectors, as a result of limited financial resources, obstacles to attracting specialists, ensuring training of working professionals, preventing their outflow, and insufficient level of training for qualification improvement. According to the RA Civil Aviation Committee, works are carried out in these directions since 2020. In particular, during the visit to RA in February 2020, the experts of the European Aviation Safety Agency found 26 deficiencies in the field of civil aviation in RA, of which 12 have been fully resolved as of now and 14 have been resolved by about 70%.    

In the direction of the development of the RA aviation field, the state authorities of the Republic of Armenia defined development prospects in order to increase the efficiency of control, the introduction of a new electronic system (Q-Pulse), training of teachers and instructors of aviation subjects, support for the development of domestic passenger and cargo transportation and resumption of operation of domestic airports (Stepanavan, Goris).

One of the most important issues in the RA aviation field is the implementation of flight safety mechanisms. In this direction, the state has implemented a number of measures, among which the protocol signed in 2022 between the RA Zvartnots Aviation Meteorological Center CJSC and the civil aviation agency Sakaeronavigatsia of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, according to which meteorological control authorities of civil aviation in the airspaces of Armenia and Georgia (Yerevan FIR and Tbilisi FIR) agreed to provide SIGMET (actual and expected hazardous weather phenomena on the flight route) information to aviation users, which is a safety mechanism. Moreover, the state implemented meteorological systems at the Shirak International Airport, and this process in underway at the Zvartnots International Airport. Despite the implemented steps, the aviation field in RA still has areas to develop. 

Summing up the above-mentioned, it can be concluded that in terms of air freight and passenger transportation, the RA aviation field has not undergone significant changes in the last 5 years in terms of its share in total volumes, but due to external and internal factors, force majeure situations have had both positive and negative effects. Currently RA faces the urgent issue of leaving the “black list” of EU flight safety, in terms of the solution of which the measures taken by the state must be brought to their logical conclusion.