New agreement to allow Armenia to join EU air space
On December 1, the European Council mandated the European Commission to negotiate an EU-Armenia agreement on common air space, which gave rise to numerous questions by Armenia’s public.
The Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Armenia, has issued the following statement:
“In 2013, after the Open skies international policy was approved, Armenia’s aviation authorities launched tremendous work to present the new potential of Armenia’s market and implement the new policy.
“As far back as two years, Armenia started unofficial discussions on an EU-Armenia agreement on common air space with its EU partners. On February 5 and 6, 2015, the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE), European Commission, had its fact-finding mission on a visit to Armenia. On June 23, 2015, Armenia’s premier signed a decision forming a negotiating group headed by Sergey Avetisyan, who had a number of discussions on an agreement in Brussels.
“As a result, on December 1, 2016, the European Council mandated the European Commission to start official negotiations with Armenia.
“EU and Armenia are expected to form negotiating groups to start official negotiations to discuss and endorse the text of an agreement to be signed later.
“Under the agreement, Armenia is to join the EU air space, which will allow the signatories to liberate their markets for air lines to operate air routes without any restrictions and make use of the ample opportunities to service a 500-milliong market.
“Armenia will also adopt effectively applied European standards and enable airlines to operate routes without government-restricted competition.”