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YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. The contest for national air carrier will be announced as soon as Mckinsey & Company Consulting finishes analyzing the results and introducing them to the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The Press Spokeswoman of the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Government of the Republic of Armenia Nelly Cherchinyan stated this in a conversation with "Armenpress". Among other things Nelly Cherchinyan noted: "We have already declared that the contest won't be announced, until the company has not finished its entire activity." In addition the Press Spokeswoman of the General Department of Civil Aviation of the Government of the Republic of Armenia Nelly Cherchinyan highlighted that the aforesaid company will finish its work by the end of September and introduces the results to the Government of the Republic of Armenia. Only after this, the date of the contest will be clarified.
Armenia's national air carrier"Armavia"air company made a decision to suspend the flights beginning from April 1, 2013 and start bankruptcy procedure. The procedure of compensation for the sold tickets is ongoing till now. Notwithstanding recently “Armavia” Air Company introduced a program of recovery to the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
The Armavia Company was established in 1996, but commercial flights to Russia and Turkey only started in 2001. In 2002, a strategic alliance was set up with the Russian airline S7 Airlines which purchased 50% of Armavia's shares from the "Chernomoravia" company under the name of the "Aviafin" company registered in Armenia but which belongs to the leadership of S7 Airlines as natural persons. Later, it bought an additional 18% of shares from Mika Armenia Trading company owned by prominent Armenian businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov. An investment contract between S7 Airlines and Armavia was signed on 14 March 2003, at which point 68% of Armavia's shares were owned by S7 Airlines, and the remaining 32% by Mika Armenia Trading. In 2003, Armavia took over a part of the bankrupt Armenian Airlines' flights. In 2005, Mikhail Baghdasarov's Mika Armenia Trading bought S7's 68% of shares and became Armavia's principal shareholder with a 100% stake in the company. In 2005, the airline transported 513,800 passengers with over 550 people in its personnel. The turnover for 2005 amounted to roughly $90 million. In 2007, the airline transported 572,300 passengers by regular and charter flights, which is a 21% increase compared to 2006. On April 21, 2011, Armavia became the first airline to fly Sukhoi Superjet 100 from Yerevan to Moscow.