YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Chairwoman of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia Tatevik Revazyan commented on the recent report about putting the Committee under heightened scrutiny by the European Commission.

On December 9 the European Commission updated the EU Air Safety List, the list of airlines that do not meet international safety standards, and are therefore subject to an operating ban or operational restrictions within the European Union. The Armenian Civil Aviation Committee also appeared in the list and has been put under heightened scrutiny because of signs of a decrease in safety oversight.

“On November 20 we were called to that meeting and we could appear in the so-called “black list”, but this didn’t happen because we had a wonderful speech, the meeting lasted two hours and we gave sufficient responses to all issues voiced. As a result they found that there is no need to include any airline in that list at the moment. They made a decision to visit Armenia in February. Then they will call us to a meeting already in May to make a final decision”, she said.

Revazyan said a lot of works need to be done in this regard and this should have been done 10 years before. The problem is the high-level scrutiny on the airlines registered in Armenia. Armenia airline, Atlantis European Airways and Taron Avia have applied for operating flights to the EU. Here the scrutiny is very strong. The first two airlines passed the audit, but the third failed.

“The reason is that they started questioning the control of our Civil Aviation. We were asked why we didn’t notice these problems. Yes, we should be able to reveal all those problems. The reason is linked with the resources, the salaries are very low and the best specialists prefer private companies. But we are taking very concrete actions, think that there is a need for legislative changes so that we can raise the salaries”, she said, adding that this will not take place at the expense of the state budget. She said an opportunity should be provided to the Civil Aviation to start charging money for its services. Revazyan said this is an accepted option worldwide.

“For instance, if you want to register an airline in the Netherlands, it costs 25 thousand Euros. But in Armenia it’s free, if you are a pilot, want to extend your license, it’s free here. When we start charging money for our services, we will be able to raise the salaries, prepare and train specialists”, she said.

Commenting on the media reports according to which Taron Avia was closed for the Ryanair’s entry to Armenia, she said these reports have nothing to do with the reality. “Taron Avia is not operating flights in Armenia for a long time, it operates in the African countries. I would like to thank the leadership of Taron Avia. They preferred Armenia’s name, rather than their personal, commercial interests. We jointly made a decision to close the airline so that no airline in Armenia would appear in the black list”, Revazyan said.  

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan