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A new air company may soon enter the Armenian market, Tatevik Revazyan, Chair of the Civil Aviation Committee, told lawmakers on Tuesday.

According to the official, the airline’s representative has claimed that they will launch flights in 13 directions from the summer season.

“It will operate 41 flights per week, which means it will have 388,000 seats during the year. At the same time, more than 200 jobs will be created in the next few months,” Revazyan said.

She said it is envisaged to make an amendment to the law “On State Duty” which would clear way for the launch of new flight routes which the aviation has not served for 12 months.

“We have put forward this condition so that the currently operating airlines don’t suspend service on the routes in order to make use of this benefit. At the same time, we demand that airlines, after receiving the privilege, operate flights throughout the year,” she said.

The civil aviation chief stated a carrier will be denied the privilege if it wants to operate flights only in summer and suspend them in winter.

“The privilege is granted for a period of 3 years with the possibility of its extension for another 2 years, which is calculated by decreasing order of the months starting from the first flight of the airline in that direction,” Revazyan said. “That is, if any airline wants to start operating flights, for example, to Amsterdam, it will be able to take advantage of the privilege. If after 6 months another airline decides to carry out flights to the same destination, the second airline will also be granted a privilege – but for 2.5 years. Thus, we eliminate the risks that an airline may enter the market, operate, for example, 10 new routes and become the only carrier being granted a privilege.”

Revazyan noted that as a result of the negotiations, passenger flow will increase by approximately 300,000 during the first year. “Given that our passenger traffic stands at 2.9 million people now, this is quite an impressive figure. According to our estimates, in the next three years the tourism growth will contribute to the creation of 1,000 new jobs. At the same time, millions of dollars will be paid to the state budget in taxes; infrastructures will be developed which will pave way for our businessmen’s entry into international markets,” she said.