Budget airline Wizz Air to serve Armenia from next March

Following on the heels of its arch rival Ryanair, Wizz is to link Yerevan with Vilnius and Vienna (Wizz Air)

Low-cost carrier (LCC) Wizz Air has announced the launch of its long-awaited service to Armenia, with an initial low-frequency, twice-weekly March 20, 2020 service from Vilnius (Lithuania) and Vienna (Austria) to Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

The decision places the Hungarian LLC hot on the heels of its Irish arch-rival Ryanair, which is launching four routes to Armenia next year, from Rome and Bergamo to Yerevan starting January 14, followed by Berlin to Yerevan and Memmingem to Gyumri in March. The twice-weekly rotations on each of these new routes are expected to generate up to 130,000 passengers per year.

In the meantime, Armenia’s domestic airline industry, which is currently represented by the two tiny airlines of Armenia Airways and Aircompany Armenia, is about to welcome another player. According to Tatevik Revazyan, the head of the country’s Civil Aviation Committee, the new airline “has already submitted application documents for registration.” The start-up plans to launch operations next summer and make 41 weekly flights across a network of 13 destinations, thereby offering an annual capacity of more than 300,000 passenger seats. The details of the new airline’s ownership have not been revealed, but according to knowledgeable sources, it will be branded as Fly Armenia.

The Caucasus country has recently found itself under the scrutiny of the EU Air Safety Committee, which criticised the Armenian aviation authorities for safety oversight shortcomings. One of its airlines, Taron Avia, suspended operations earlier this year after Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee’s audits revealed safety violations.