Executives from the largest European airline and Irish budget airline Ryanair announced its first-ever flights from Armenia at the Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan. Chief Commercial Director David O’Brien said that Armenia is the 40th country to enter the airline’s network. “We are here to announce three new destinations from Yerevan: Rome, Milan, and Berlin. Flights to the first two cities will begin in January, and flights to Berlin will begin in the summer of 2020. And perhaps flights to the first European destination, Memmingen, from Gyumri will also begin in the summer of 2020.”
The first flight will take place on January 14th from Yerevan to Rome and Milan, and flights to Berlin will start at the end of March.
“If we are to compare our prices to the higher prices of other airlines, these 135,000 passengers will save 20 million Euros,” David O’Brien said. According to him, the cheapest fares on the Ryanair website start at 4.99 Euros.
According to him, prices will be high for certain destinations if they hadn’t been ordered beforehand, such as an 8-day trip to Malaga from London, but the prices will still be half of what other airlines offer. The average price of Ryanair tickets is 35 Euros.
Flights are expected to depart from Yerevan twice per week. “This is the largest airline in Europe. We not only carry out flights from major hubs and capital cities, but we also unite different regions. We prioritize integration aside from commercial benefits. We have 86 different destinations, which will give Armenia the opportunity to connect with other cities. We have also established flights to cities such as Marseilles, Toulouse, and Bordeaux, where there are large Armenian communities. There will be new flights to Georgia and Lebanon next year. We serve 152 million passengers and we hope to increase that number to 200 million over the next few years.” Ryanair does not expect to offer flights from Armenia to Russia.
Chair of the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee Tatevik Revazan said that one of her goals when she moved to Armenia was to expand Armenia’s airfare connections with other markets because it could have a major impact on the economy and create many jobs. “I am proud that Ryanair is here,” Tatevik Revazian said.
Lusine Budaghyan
