On December 10, Armenia's State Register officially registered Armenian National Airlines CJSC, the country’s new air carrier that will operate as Fly Arna.

Fly Arna, a joint venture of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia, will operate as a budget passenger airline based in Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport.

An announcement of the joint venture was made on July 14, 2021, following a signing ceremony and a press conference held at Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport attended by Armenian Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan and Air Arabia Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani.

The name was chosen by the joint venture’s board of directors from more than 500 proposals received from participants of the ‘Name the Airline’ contest. The word ‘Arna’ is derived from 'AR'menian 'N'ational 'A'irlines.

This past October, the Armenian government decided to increase the charter capital of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) by 4.733 million AMD to pay for shares in the Armenia-Air Arabia joint venture to create an air carrier for Armenia.

According to Armenia’s State Register (ASR), the authorized capital of Armenian National Airlines CJSC is 4,830,330,000 drams.

The distribution of shares, in percentage terms, remained unknown until recently.

The ASR shows the airline has three shareholders.

The ANIF and the International Business Company (FZE) operating in the Sharjah Airport International Free Economic Zone (SAIF Zone) each own 49% shares. The remaining 2% is owned by Varouj(an) A. Nerguizian registered in Dubai.

Born in Aleppo, Lebanese-Armenian economist Nerguizian has been the CEO and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Sharjah since 1992.  

Nerguizian is also the Chairman and General Manager of Emirates Lebanon Bank, a subsidiary of the Bank of Sharjah. In addition, the Armenian businessman is a founding member of the board of directors of Dana Gas, an Arab private company operating gas fields in Iraqi Kurdistan and Egypt, and a member of the board of directors of Growthgate Capital, a private equity fund in Bahrain.

Fly Arna is registered at 37 Hanrapetutyan Street in Yerevan, where the ANIF is headquartered.

Fly Arna’s next step will be to receive an aircraft operator's certificate (AOC) from the Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee, without which it cannot engage in commercial air transportation.

Armenia’s Law on Aviation stipulates that AOCs can be obtained by legal entities registered in the Republic of Armenia, at least 51% of the shares of which belong to the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and (or) legal entities established in the Republic of Armenia.

As noted above, 49% of Fly Arna belongs to the ANIF and 2% to Varoujan Nerguizian. His name is not listed in Armenia’s voter rolls, which means that even if Nerguizian is an Armenian citizen, he lacks Armenian registration. 

It can’t be ruled out that he is indeed a citizen of the Republic of Armenia given that in case of no registration, a person's data only appear in the state population register, which, however, is not made public, unlike the voter register.

But even if Nerguizian is not a citizen of Armenia, that is, 51% of Fly Arna belongs to foreigners, it is still possible for the company to receive an AOC. The point is that the Law on Aviation allows the committee to apply an exception to the above condition, if there are special reasons, and the aircraft operator will be based in Armenia.

Fly Arna will be based at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport. At a press conference in early December, ANIF CEO David Papazian said flights will start in the spring of 2022.

Fly Arna will initially use two planes to fly four routes, both of which will gradually increase. Papazyan said Fly Arna will operate fifteen planes in five years’ time.

The airline must also obtain IATA and ICAO codes before starting international transportation.

Top photo (from left): David Papazian, Tigran Avinyan, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Thani, and Adel Al Ali (Group CEO of Air Arabia)