ArmInfo.Fly Arna airline has suspended its activities in the air transportation market for financial reasons, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia Armen Simonyan stated in Parliament on March 19.
According to him, the airline's license has been suspended. The fact is that, according to the current legislation in Armenia, if an air carrier does not have at least one aircraft, the license is suspended for up to six months. If there is no airliner after six months, the license will be completely terminated. "The situation with Fly Arna is being studied and if relevant information is available, taking into account commercial secrets, it will be made available to the public," the deputy minister said.
Earlier, ArmInfo, citing sources in Fly Arna, reported the airline's intentions to leave the Armenian air transportation market. The company recalled both of its airliners. The reason for the recall and cessation of activity, as the source noted, was the failure of the Armenian side to fulfill the terms of the agreement on the creation of the airline, one of which was the subsidization of passenger transportation by the RA government.
On December 10, 2021, Armenian National Airlines CJSC received state registration. The company operated under the Fly Arna brand - ARmenian National Airlines. The project to create a new airline became known in July 2020, when the then-current executive director of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) David Papazyan and the general executive director of the budget airline based in Sharjah, Arabia, Ali al Ali, signed an agreement. ANIF proposed to announce a competition for the best name for the new airline. Based on the results of the competition, it was announced in September what it would be called. Initially, it was known that the company would operate on a low-cost business model, in other words, it would be an Armenian low-cost airline (such airlines offer passengers low prices, but at the same time an incomplete, that is, not generally accepted, list of services).