The excitement following last November’s decision by the Armenian government regarding to Syunik Airport and declaring the start of flights linking Yerevan and the Syunik provincial capital of Kapan, scheduled for this month, soon dissipated when the air carrier NovAir withdrew its flight permit request.

Hetq contacted Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) for clarification.

The Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI) had drafted a proposal to allocate 49.5 million drams to Syunik Airport LLC, which operates Kapan Airport, to cover the company's costs. The ministry noted that funding for the airport has been suspended, which could jeopardize its further operation. In 2021, Syunik Airport LLC had accumulated liabilities amounting to 49.5 million drams, which included general operating expenses, taxes and salaries. The government was to provide the money in the form of a grant.

Allocating money to a private company should not come as a surprise, as the state is involved here. The LLC was established in May 2017 by the Syunik Region Development and Investment Fund (SRDIF). In September 2017, Syunik Airport LLC, under a concession agreement, assumed the right to operate, service, repair and make necessary improvements to Kapan Syunik Airport for 25 years. One year after the founding of the company, in May 2018, the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) Charitable Foundation, became co-owner of the LLC. (The foundation was founded by the ZCMC.) The state and private foundations each own 50-50 shares in the concessionaire company.

The reopening of Kapan airport in 2017-2020 was carried out by the SRDIF and the ZCMC. Financing was assumed by the combine. Although the cost of construction of a new passenger complex at the airport and repair of the runway was initially estimated at 2.3 billion drams, the project was revised and expanded to 2.8 billion drams (US$5.8 million). Add to this the L-410UVP-E20 aircraft purchased from the Czech manufacturer Aircraft Industries for 5.5 million euros, which was produced in 2015 and brought to Armenia in 2018. In 2017, then Syunik Governor Vahe Hakobyan announced that ZCMC had paid 1.5 million euros for the plane, and the remaining 4 million would be repaid after its operation. In Armenia, one of the companies affiliated with ZCMC was previously the owner of this aircraft, but later the ZCMC Charitable Fund became the owner.

The 19-person capacity plane, which received EK-4117 registration in Armenia and was named after Syunik writer Hamo Sahyan, was to be operated by Atlantis Armenian Airlines (AAA). The company was owned by Deputy Head of the General Department of Civil Aviation (now the Civil Aviation Committee) and Honorary Consul of Austria in Armenia Aram Marutyan. In August-September 2019, the AAA operated seasonal (irregular, charter) Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan flights with the L-410. In the spring of 2020, with the spread of the coronavirus and the closing of air routes, the company offered charter flights from Yerevan to Krasnodar, Sochi, Mineralniye Vody, Stavropol, Rostov-on-Don, Tbilisi, Batumi, and vice versa. In April 2020, an AAA representative told Hetq that 17 seats would be used for Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flights, and that passengers would be able to carry 20 kg of baggage. The representative didn’t rule out that the number seats would be increased to 19, necessitating a baggage reduction.

Nevertheless, in October 2020, Aram Marutyan's newly established NovAir company became the new operator of the L-410 and he sold Atlantis Armenian Airlines. The new company thus assumed the duties of AAA, one of which was the providing flight to Kapan.

In November 2020, the Civil Aviation Committee announced that the reconstructed Syunik Airport was ready for operation. At that time, the CAC, in response to Hetq’s inquiry regarding flight safety measures, noted: "Flight safety is ensured in the airspace of Syunik as in the rest of the Republic of Armenia."

When Hetq asked Syunik Airport LLC Director Karen Vardanyan about safety possible risks, he said that he was not authorized to comment. Vardanyan also did not specify when the airport would be put into operation, only stating that it is ready for operation.

Russian border guard post near runway

Justifying the Armenian government's November draft decision to reopen the Kapan Airport, the MTAI stated that its subordinate CAC had received an application from NovAir for twice weekly Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flights, scheduled to start on January 20, 2022. However, Hetq was informed by the CAC that the applicant had applied for charter flights, which, unlike regular flights, have a specific deadline, in this case, from January 20 to September 20.

NovAir had applied to the CAC for a flight permit on October 20, 2021․ On November 16, NovAir requested that its application be cancelled. Hetq has learned from the CAC that the airline justified its move by arguing that due to the coronavirus pandemic it was impossible to train the crew, and that maintenance of the L-410 aircraft was labor-intensive and time-consuming.

In this regard, it should be noted that the aircraft with EK-4117 registration as of November 5 last year still had a certificate of airworthiness, that is, it had the right to fly, but as of December 22, the certificate was no longer valid. To obtain a valid certificate, the aircraft must be inspected by the CAC, but before that NovAir must send the aircraft for maintenance. (The flight tracking website planfinder.net last recorded the movement of the EK-4117 on October 28 last year.)

Both the training of the crew and the maintenance of the aircraft are routine processes.

In May 2019, Syunik Airport LLC told Hetq: “To ensure the safe operation of the aircraft, ZCMC's crew members and maintenance staff have been trained in the aircraft manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic (Aircraft Industries) and in Armenia. Specialists have been invited to Armenia to organize training flights of the plane and to train the pilots and the necessary courses and exercises have been organized. All pre-flight work has been carried out in accordance with established procedure. Current proper servicing of the plane is done at Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan.”

It is worth emphasizing that while the ZCMC itself had paid to train the planes’ flight crew, as well as financing the whole program of reopening Kapan airport, now, as noted above, the debts of the concessionaire company are repaid by the government.

On the other hand, when NovAir applied to the CAC in October, didn’t it know about the difficulties caused by the pandemic? After all, despite the panidemic and its complications, air borders are not now closed and there is a flow of passengers between countries. In other words, at least at first glance, it seems that the problem of training NovAir staff (which was to be organized abroad) should be solved. The same applies to the maintenance of the aircraft, especially since the company itself had applied to the CAC for flight permission.

MP Vahe Hakobyan, of the opposition Hayastan parliamentary faction (who served as Syunik provincial governor in 2016-2018 and before that worked at ZCMC and was one of the participants in the reopening of Kapan airport) described the news of the Yerevan-Kapan flights as a campaign ploy by the government prior to Kapan municipal elections. Hakobyan argues that given the current situation, when Azerbaijani troops are stationed several dozen meters from the Syunik Airport, no one can realistically provide any security guarantee.

A Russian border guard post in the foreground. In the background, an Azerbaijani military position

The Civil Aviation Committee told Hetq that no other application has been submitted for the Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan air route.

On the matter of safety, the CAC responded: "No application has been submitted to the committee for the implementation of flights to and from the Kapan airport. The airport certificate issued by the committee to Syunik Airport in Kapan confirms that the airport is ready to operate in accordance with international standards."

Airport photos by Hakob Poghosyan. 15.06.2021