The Armenian Government is not going to obtain a stake in Armavia, Head of the Chief Civil Aviation Department of Armenia Artyom Movsesyan said at a briefing on Thursday.
He said that the company's current credit standing may push it to bankruptcy. Movsesyan said that the company's ten-year contract with the Government expires on Apr 22 2013. "I don't think that a new contract will be signed as Armavia does not have enough funds for meeting its obligations. We are not inclined to leave this problem unresolved, so, unless by Apr 22 we sign a contract with another air carrier, the contract with Armavia will be prolonged for just a few days until we find a new operator," Movsesyan said.
He said that the Armenian authorities are considering how to further develop civil aviation: to create a state-owned air company, to invite a private operator, to liberalize the market or to adopt the open sky policy. "All of this scenarios have both good and bad aspects," Movsesyan said.
He said that no single foreign air company has yet applied for the right to provide civil air services in Armenia. "The interest is low but not because of the high prices at Zvartnots Airport. The prices are not high considering the difference of our service package from the variety of services provided by other international airports and keeping in mind the problems with air fuel imports," Movsesyan said.
He said that after the crisis many air companies began saving money and giving preference to more profitable destinations.