Central European budget carrier Wizz Air is setting up a base in the Armenian capital Yerevan, from which it will open several new routes.
Wizz Air states that it will station two Airbus A321neos at the city’s Zvartnots airport.
The carrier will open new services to eight new destinations in Europe, rolled out from the beginning of October this year.
These include Bucharest, Prague, Hamburg, Naples, Nice, Bari, Paphos, and Memmingen outside Munich.
Wizz commenced flights to Yerevan in 2020 and the base expansion will take its network from the capital to 17 routes.
“This development will secure our leadership position on the market with 30% share,” says Wizz Air Hungary managing director Roland Tischner.
Yerevan will bring to 34 the number of bases established by the budget airline.
Armenia’s deputy minister of territorial administration, Armen Simonyan, says the government “greatly values” both local and international carriers for developing the Armenian aviation sector.
All of the country’s carriers, however, are currently included on the European Commission’s air safety blacklist, preventing them from operating to EU destinations.
Some of the operators are also experiencing operational issues.
Armenian Airlines stated in early April that it was suspending flights temporarily, “due to the renewal of its fleets and the acquisition of new aircraft”.
“Acquisition of new aircraft is important for the development of the airline and the opening of new interesting destinations,” it added.
Joint-venture budget carrier Fly Arna also put its flights on hold last year, just two years after starting services.
Fly Arna was created by the Armenian National Interests Fund and the United Arab Emirates low-cost operator Air Arabia Group.
