Armenian airlines expected to be removed from EU blacklist- minister

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YEREVAN, 4 November. /ARKA/. Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan said today that 41 problems that had put Armenia-certified airlines on the EU ‘blacklist’ have been identified and 40 of them have been eliminated./pp ‘The only remaining problem will be eliminated in December. Our main problem was the shortage of inspectors. This problem has been partially solved and several specialists are now having a retraining course, which will end in mid-December,’ he said./pp

The minister noted that Armenian aviation authorities will request European partners to conduct a study to decide which airlines to remove from the ‘black list’./pp ‘We have appealed to our colleagues to develop a working schedule, a plan and stages that Armenian aviation should go through in order to get off the ‘black list’. We have scheduled a video meeting for 13 November, during which a roadmap will be worked out,’ Sanosyan said./pp

In 2020 the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, according to which all the airlines certified in Armenia have no right to perform flights to the EU countries, with the exception of evacuation and humanitarian flights, as well as flights for medical purposes. The decision was made after a hearing with the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia and six Armenian airlines./pp

On November 16, 2022 the Armenian parliament ratified the Agreement on the Common Aviation Area between the Republic of Armenia, on the one hand, and the European Union and its Member States, on the other hand, which was signed in Brussels on November 15, 2021. Under the agreement, Armenia had to align its legislation with EU aviation rules and standards in areas such as aviation safety, air traffic management, security, the environment, economic regulation, competition, consumer protection and social aspects within the next 2 years.-0-/p