Armenian GDCA head: growth  in price of air tickets occurred for  objective reasons

ArmInfo.Head of the Main Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia (GDCA Sergey Avetisyan  believes that the rise in prices for air tickets has objective reasons. "Flights to the most demanded areas in Armenia have risen in price, which is connected with the peak of the tourist season," he  told journalists on August 17 after the meeting Government.

The head of GDCA reminded that from year to year, Armenian citizens  become eyewitnesses of the process, when from the end of July, as  well as on the eve of New Year's holidays, the tourism industry of  countries reacts with price increases. At the same time, he does not  agree with the statement that the situation in the sphere is chaotic.  According to Avetisyan, the rise in prices for air tickets is  conditioned by seasonality, which is characteristic not only of  Armenia, but of the whole world.

The second aspect of the rise in price, Sergey Avetisyan explained,  was that the systematic work that is consistently conducted within  the framework of the "open skies" policy regarding its implementation  strengthened Armenia's position on the world aviation map. As a  result, the demand for flights to Armenia exceeded expectations -  airlines made a mistake in their initial forecasts and, in the  absence of an adequate offer, tickets went up. It is noteworthy that  the increase in the number of passengers arriving in Armenia in  relation to departing passengers has been recorded - the flow of  passengers has increased by 30%.

For today, according to Avetisyan, air carriers are trying to adjust  according to demand both the flight schedule and the type of airliner  performing the flight in order to provide the appropriate capacity. A  number of airlines, in particular, as the official indicated, Qatar  Airways, UIA, S7, Aeroflot, VIM Avia, Nordwind changed the type of  liner, increasing the number of seats. As Avetisyan pointed out, the  prices for air tickets will start to decline dramatically in  mid-September - two to three times.

At the same time, the head of the aviation regulator once again noted  that the management is not authorized to interfere in the commercial  activities of airlines and to influence the tariff policy they  conduct. "GDCA may indirectly affect the pricing process by providing  equal competitive conditions, permanent monitoring of the sphere and  the creation of an adequate legislative field," he said.