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OPEN WINDOW FOR ARMENIAN AVIATION
Former national air carrier of Armenia - the company Armenian airlines, being a state company, shared the fate of the latter and sank into the past. About the reasons for the tragic death of Armenian airlines was spoken, written and analyzed more than once - application of economically and professionally groundless schemes and methods of management of the company, or, simply a corruption. Not finding enough times to complete all the funeral ceremonies, a new company was created in 2001 through the support of the State, which became the national air carrier. But the second company differs from the firs one with that it is private, and, as a result, will work economically effectively and with an intention to get a profit. In 2004 national air carrier of Armenia - the company Armavia transported 430,900 people during 5,375 flights, and the share of the air company in the total passenger turnover regarding Armenia made up 41%. Thus, in 2004 the actual budget air passenger traffic of Armenia totaled 1,050,000 passengers. Transit passengers are also included in this showing. The transportation of transit passengers only by Armavia totaled 21,000 people. In experts' estimation, the potential of particularly "Armenian" market totals 1.5 million people per year, which can be reached till 2010 when keeping the growth trend. In fact, 1 million strong market may grow by 50%. This figure is conditional, as it depends on the intensiveness of the tourism development and improvement of the social-economic situation in the country. However, one may add the transit passengers as well to that conditional figure. The company Armavia plans to increase their number to 100,000 people per year by 2009. The million strong passenger market is the point, when reaching it is already possible to start qualitatively new phase of the development of civil aviation in Armenia. Better to say, such a number of passengers gives so much money to our airport and air companies that is enough not only for covering the current expenses, but also for the development. So, now the concession owner of the airport "Zvartnots" is building a new terminal, as the present building is not designed for serving international flights, as well as does not have enough rooms and halls to increase the number of passengers. After putting into operation the new terminal in 2007 the air companies may begin increase of transit passenger traffic via Yerevan with certainty. Taking into account the growth of the incomes of the population and rates of tourism development, by 2010 the bar of 1,5 million passengers per year must be overcome successfully. It will allow the air companies to increase their revenues and respectively the number of directions of flights and, which is more important, to make more frequent the flights of already existing routes. The growth of the number of the routes, increase of frequency of flights and joining of flights, in its turn, will promote the increase of the transit traffic flow via Yerevan. Noteworthy, only our national air carrier works over attraction of transit passengers to Yerevan (and respectively - money). Foreign companies working in Yerevan are interested in attraction of a transit passenger to their airports - Austrian airlines to Schvehat, the Aeroflot - to Moscow, British Airways - to Hithrow and so on. In this connection, these companies are conducting policy of driving out Armenian national form their airports. The main instrument of attraction of transit passengers to the country is the price policy - when choosing one or another route the passenger first of all directs its attention to the cheapness of the flight. Competitive markets must be formed both for air companies and airports for reduction of the value of the transit via Yerevan. If the competition is not alien to the first ones, then Zvartnots is a monopolist in Armenia. Zvartnots fixes in exclusive regime the prices for service, fueling and parking of planes, as well as providing services to passengers. Not detailing the prices of the airport, one may ascertain that its price policy does not promote formation of tickets with low cost price. The settlement of this situation is only in creation of an alternative airport, for example, on the basis of the airport "Erebuni". Of course, as regards its geographic natures Erebuni can never compete with Zavrtnots, but in the case of some investments it has an opportunity to make good competition in the sphere of serving short-distance and several types of middle-distance flying planes, which, mainly work in Armenia. During the last years Armenian Government took a series of steps towards modernization of this airport: the runway was increased, passenger service buildings were repaired and so on. But the problem of using Erebuni under regular passenger flights rests on the agreement with concession owner of Zvartnots Eduardo Eurnekian on not using alternative airports within a radius of 250 km far from Zvartnots.
Nevertheless, the national air carrier has partially solved the problem of reduction of the price of tickets, putting into operation economy-type planes of European production, which uses 2.5 times less fuels than the planes made in the former USSR. Of course, the technical service of the Airbuses costs more expensive, as it is implemented in Europe, but this problem is solved by creation of an own base of "light" types of technical engineering of planes. Another possibility to reduce the cost price of transportation is the training of Armenian pilots. Pilots-foreigners agree to fly to Armenia for the amount of 10 times more than the wages of the Armenian pilots. The company Armavia solves this problem by re-training of Armenian pilots, who had received education and skills in the Soviet time. But we are not long way from that when we shall have to choose - either to pay $15,000 per month to a foreigner or to pay hundred thousands dollars for training
There is no doubt that Armenia has got a great number of opportunities to turn into an air-transport junction of the TransCaucasus, and, that the main thing, to reach this goal depends only our, particularly, Armenian potentialities and political will.
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The main point of transit-communication potential of Armenia because of well-known geopolitical realities, may be brought to definition "dead-end crossroad", especially if to consider the problem in the aspect of increasing rates of world integration processes. The coefficient of efficiency of developed railway infrastructure of Armenia as usual ranges 10-15%, whereas the railway networks of the neighbor Georgia and Azerbaijan are developing actively. We may calculate analogous coefficients also when using the national road-transport potential. The analysis of the reasons for this situation again will bring us to the regional logic of building relations, where the political interests are put higher than the economic ones. The only exception in the number of these difficulties may be considered the aviation potential of Armenia, the development of which less depends on the political interests of the neighbor countries. This simple circumstance from the beginning of conduct of the business allowed us to threat with great optimism the future of the newly created company. But why the new national air carrier was necessary? Considering that dozen of European and Russian companies are working in Armenia. The reason is that the development of the national air carrier - it is the growth of the national budget receipts, the development of national infrastructures, contributions to the image of the nation and certain liabilities of the national company to the State in the sphere of solving the national security problems. Just with provision of this number of necessary tasks by the company Armavia is connected its support by the State. Besides, the role of the national air carrier of Armenia is especially underlined in Armenia with limited market, which cannot be divided between two large companies.
