According to aviation industry sources, Armenia Airways, which currently flies from Yerevan to Tehran, Moscow and Kazan, has acquired the second Boeing 737-300 that once flew the U.K.’s King Charles III around the world over 20 years ago.

The plane was operated in Denmark, Switzerland, USA, Austria and Romania. Swiss airline PrivatAir operated the plane on VIP flights in 1998-2002 and also used it for Prince Charles. 

The first Boeing 737-300 of Armenia Airways, registered in Armenia since October 2021 bears the name of Grigor Ghazaryan, a soldier killed in the 2020 Artsakh war. This is the first time an Armenian plane bears the name of an Armenian serviceman.

The EK-73730, produced in 1995, previously operated in USA, Great Britain, Ireland, Russia and Belarus.

Of note is that three of the four aircraft registered to Armenia Airways were operated by Romanian companies.

The previous operator of Armenia Airways' BAe 146-300 (EK-14601) was Aviro Air. This plane has been out of operation since 2021. Armenia Airways also purchased two Airbus A310s from TAROM, the national airline of Romania in 2018. They were brought to Armenia but were soon sold to Iran, thus indirectly avoiding western sanctions.

The second Boeing 737-300 landed at Zvartnots International Airport on November 5. But it has not been registered in Armenia yet. 

Top photo: YR-TIB in Antalya, Aug. 20,2022 (Emre Tanrivermis)