Armenia long-haul flights

caliboy93 · Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:12 pm

Will we see long haul service from Armenia in the future? Maybe to LAX given their massive Armenian population?

LAX772LR · Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:16 pm

Why would any airline bother?

There's no significant business ties that are going to pay increased yield for slightly faster service, and the SoCal Armenians are perfectly content on the dozens of 1stop options offered by a plethora of carriers here.

winginit · Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:19 pm

caliboy93 wrote:
Will we see long haul service from Armenia in the future? Maybe to LAX given their massive Armenian population?

Let me turn that question around back at you -

What is the business case for long-haul service to/from Armenia?

flyingclrs727 · Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:21 pm

Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

GalaxyFlyer · Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:26 pm

Turks and Armenians get along so well, it’s a natural. NOT!

GF

adamh8297 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:33 am

LAX772LR wrote:
Why would any airline bother?

There's no significant business ties that are going to pay increased yield for slightly faster service, and the SoCal Armenians are perfectly content on the dozens of 1stop options offered by a plethora of carriers here.

I wouldn't say plethora! LH doesn't fly to EVN for starters. For the top 3 diasporas we have:

AF, OS, LO, SU from LAX or NYC. EK/FZ and QR are possible too. NYC also has PS BR seasonally
Only AF for BOS but best flight time is actually QR during off-season BOS originating.

I bet a lot of people do 2-stop itineraries from USA. Not a lot of ULCC's (Wizz Easyjet RyanAir Vueling) in EVN too.

flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

Oooof! All politics aside, TK doesn't fly to EVN only AtlasGlobal.

davidjohnson6 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:38 am

adamh8297 wrote:
I bet a lot of people do 2-stop itineraries from USA. Not a lot of ULCC's (Wizz Easyjet RyanAir Vueling) too.

There has been talk this week of Ryanair possibly starting flights to/from Yerevan but nothing has come of it yet

RWA380 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:27 am

caliboy93 wrote:
Will we see long haul service from Armenia in the future? Maybe to LAX given their massive Armenian population?

Interesting topic, but I highly doubt there is even enough PDEW from LAX to EVN, even 1x weekly seems unlikely. In my opinion, the only city in the US that would even have a remote shot is NYC & again, I doubt there is enough PDEW to make even a 2x weekly service viable. As was pointed out earlier, the premium demand would be rather low & certainly not enough to warrant a flight of that stage length. I expect the numerous 1 stop options will serve he market well for the forseeable future. If business ties were more in the US, rather than Russia it may be a different story, anything can change or happen.

opticalilyushin · Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:13 am

Dust off the old Armavia IL-86 and I'll be on the first flight!!!!

SCQ83 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:52 am

davidjohnson6 wrote:
adamh8297 wrote:
I bet a lot of people do 2-stop itineraries from USA. Not a lot of ULCC's (Wizz Easyjet RyanAir Vueling) too.

There has been talk this week of Ryanair possibly starting flights to/from Yerevan but nothing has come of it yet

That is very interesting. Any source? I wonder which would be the first destinations. AFAIK France has (by far) the largest diaspora of Armenians in Europe. There are currently flights to CDG (AF), LYS and seasonal NCE (Armenia Aircompany), and SN is starting BRU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvartnots ... al_Airport

It is quite shocking how badly connected Yerevan is to Europe. Not even flights with Lufthansa (!) or Swiss. In fact if the list is complete, there is not a single flight to Germany, the UK or Italy.

I could see FR starting a few of their basic airports (namely BGY, CRL and STN), some additional provincial French and German routes (something among BOD, TLS, MRS, CGN, FRA and SXF) and maybe some nearby destination like ATH or PFO.

albertocsc · Sun Mar 10, 2019 8:52 am

Armenia has difficulty in keeping a flag carrier: Armavia, Aircompany,...
So starting long-haul flights would be even more difficult. In South Caucasus region only Azerbaijan have them, and Georgia have been mulling them for a while but they still didn't materialise.

dredgy · Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:29 am

flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

Ahaha hahahahaha.
Thanks, I needed that.

nordikcam · Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:35 am

SCQ83 wrote:
davidjohnson6 wrote:
adamh8297 wrote:
I bet a lot of people do 2-stop itineraries from USA. Not a lot of ULCC's (Wizz Easyjet RyanAir Vueling) too.

There has been talk this week of Ryanair possibly starting flights to/from Yerevan but nothing has come of it yet

That is very interesting. Any source? I wonder which would be the first destinations. AFAIK France has (by far) the largest diaspora of Armenians in Europe. There are currently flights to CDG (AF), LYS and seasonal NCE (Armenia Aircompany), and SN is starting BRU.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvartnots ... al_Airport

It is quite shocking how badly connected Yerevan is to Europe. Not even flights with Lufthansa (!) or Swiss. In fact if the list is complete, there is not a single flight to Germany, the UK or Italy.

I could see FR starting a few of their basic airports (namely BGY, CRL and STN), some additional provincial French and German routes (something among BOD, TLS, MRS, CGN, FRA and SXF) and maybe some nearby destination like ATH or PFO.

SN is not starting EVN...SN flies seasonal flights to EVN since years !

continental004 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:38 am

RWA380 wrote:
caliboy93 wrote:
Will we see long haul service from Armenia in the future? Maybe to LAX given their massive Armenian population?

Interesting topic, but I highly doubt there is even enough PDEW from LAX to EVN, even 1x weekly seems unlikely. In my opinion, the only city in the US that would even have a remote shot is NYC & again, I doubt there is enough PDEW to make even a 2x weekly service viable. As was pointed out earlier, the premium demand would be rather low & certainly not enough to warrant a flight of that stage length. I expect the numerous 1 stop options will serve he market well for the forseeable future. If business ties were more in the US, rather than Russia it may be a different story, anything can change or happen.

LAX has by far the largest Armenian population in the USA, although the population has different origins (Armenia, Iran, Lebanon, etc.) The demand from NYC will be negligible.

SCQ83 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:27 am

nordikcam wrote:
SN is not starting EVN...SN flies seasonal flights to EVN since years !

Right. They started in summer 2017. So this is their 3rd summer.

https://www.air-journal.fr/2016-09-28-b ... 70101.html

LAX772LR · Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:32 am

flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

There will be icicles on the Devil's underwear, before that happens.

Here, just start reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

rlwynn · Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:53 am

I remember the short lived City Bird BRU-LAX was for an Armenian 1stop.

DominikR83 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:44 pm

There are e.g. a 1-stop connections on OS (EVN-VIE-LAX) , LO (EVN-WAW-LAX) or SU(EVN-SVO-LAX) .
So i don`t think there is need of a direct flight. Based on the fare i got for above mentioned connections (500-900 Euros return) i don`t think that a direct flight will financially work.

P1aneMad · Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:20 pm

Also AF which incidentally serves the large expat Armenian community in France and has year round service to EVN from CDG.

SRQKEF · Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:42 pm

dredgy wrote:
flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

Ahaha hahahahaha.
Thanks, I needed that.

I hear Saudia is also considering adding flights to TLV to connect to their East Asian destinations... :mrgreen:

luckyone · Sun Mar 10, 2019 1:47 pm

A couple thoughts while reading this. I’ve been to Armenia and I love the country and the people.
1. Regarding European connectivity: Lufthansa used to fly to EVN, and they did so from MUC. OS and SN still do from within their group. LOT also flies there.
2. There are about 11 million Armenians around the world. 3 million live in Armenia proper. Much of the Armenian diaspora is technically Western Armenian, whose families would have lived in modern day Turkey. Their dialect of Armenian (Western) is also a bit different than the Armenian spoken in Yerevan (Eastern), and time, geography, and politics deepened this. Many of them have no actual connection to Armenia other than the name since their families would not have lived in Eastern Armenia, and the Soviet Union didn’t exactly encourage business or cultural exchange or visits. Most of the Armenians I know in the States have never been, which I find humorous when I tell them that I have, and they don’t speak Armenian. All that to say that there aren’t as many people regularly moving between Armenia and the US based on cultural heritage as is being suggested. VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here.
3. Business and politics are skewed towards Russia, which isn’t to say the Armenians aren’t welcoming to tourists. Far from it, in fact. But that’s where the traffic is.
4. There have been regular flights between Yerevan and Istanbul since 2005 on different carriers. Now, I want to say I’ve seen TH fly there, but I may be confusing that with something else. It would also not be out of the realm of possibility for another carrier to fly on behalf of TH just for political logistics a la Air Sinai in TLV.

Blerg · Sun Mar 10, 2019 2:21 pm

The real question we should be asking ourselves is how big the market really is. I know a lot of Armenians who live in California and I think they go back once in 5 to 10 years. Even many Armenians in Europe don't go back that often.

9w748capt · Sun Mar 10, 2019 2:53 pm

dredgy wrote:
flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

Ahaha hahahahaha.
Thanks, I needed that.

Right? Free memberships for teenagers too lazy to do an iota of research ... this is what we get.

SCQ83 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:00 pm

luckyone wrote:
VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here

I don't think this is a major issue. Look at Kutaisi in Georgia. This summer Wizz Air will fly to a whopping 27 destinations from KUT including Bari, Wroclaw or Tallinn. What are the relations of those places with Georgia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_the ... al_Airport

Ryanair (even more than W6) is an expert in stimulate markets and create demand. Other than VFR, it will boost tourism in both directions.

luckyone · Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:09 pm

SCQ83 wrote:
luckyone wrote:
VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here

I don't think this is a major issue. Look at Kutaisi in Georgia. This summer Wizz Air will fly to a whopping 27 destinations from KUT including Bari, Wroclaw or Tallinn. What are the relations of those places with Georgia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_the ... al_Airport

Ryanair (even more than W6) is an expert in stimulate markets and create demand. Other than VFR, it will boost tourism in both directions.

Sorry. I mean specifically with regards to US-Armenia nonstops, and I would argue the same about long haul flights out of Armenia. European low-costs are indeed a different matter.

LAXdude1023 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:18 pm

Theres isn't really a business case for it. As its been mentioned there are lots of one stop options that do the trick fine. I think SU actually has the best schedule.

Braniff747SP · Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:50 pm

SCQ83 wrote:
It is quite shocking how badly connected Yerevan is to Europe. Not even flights with Lufthansa (!) or Swiss. In fact if the list is complete, there is not a single flight to Germany, the UK or Italy.

There's less now than there used to be. KJ, and later BD, operated LHR-EVN. LH did MUC-EVN, ST had TXL-EVN, and AZ flew FCO-EVN.

I'm probably missing some. It's counterintuitive - I understand the economy in EVN is doing quite well. Certainly better than a few years ago, when there was more service.

davidjohnson6 wrote:

There has been talk this week of Ryanair possibly starting flights to/from Yerevan but nothing has come of it yet

This would be really interesting. Anyone know how the VY BCN-EVN flights did?

albertocsc wrote:
In South Caucasus region only Azerbaijan have them,.

Yeah - and there's no way that's a profitable enterprise.

Galwayman · Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:16 pm

TK owns the Armenian market , and the Lebanese, Israeli, Iranian etc long haul market big time

SCQ83 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:17 pm

Galwayman wrote:
TK owns the Armenian market

Hello?

a350lover · Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:03 pm

They must fly somewhere else cause EVN only sees 4x/w to Istambul with AtlasGlobal.

janders · Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:05 pm

Regarding LAX, it seems to me the majority of Armenians I know in LA are Lebanese, so not don't think a flight to EVN would be of any interest.

Phosphorus · Sun Mar 10, 2019 8:14 pm

Purely anecdotal, but I do tend to encounter many pax from Armenia at KBP, connecting on PS/Ukraine International to West Europe. Was a witness, a couple of times, of transit pax from Armenia throwing a drama, when gate personnel tried to enforce hand luggage rules -- probably enforcement in EVN was very lax, and then poor KBP personnel had to take shouts and screams and tears, when a proverbial kitchen sink was not within hand luggage allowance.

davidjohnson6 · Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:01 pm

SCQ83 wrote:
davidjohnson6 wrote:
adamh8297 wrote:
I bet a lot of people do 2-stop itineraries from USA. Not a lot of ULCC's (Wizz Easyjet RyanAir Vueling) too.

There has been talk this week of Ryanair possibly starting flights to/from Yerevan but nothing has come of it yet

That is very interesting. Any source?

http://asbarez.com/178238/ryanair-plann ... o-armenia/
https://news.am/eng/news/499967.html
http://arka.am/en/news/society/ireland_ ... ir_market/

albertocsc · Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:27 am

SCQ83 wrote:
I could see FR starting a few of their basic airports (namely BGY, CRL and STN), some additional provincial French and German routes (something among BOD, TLS, MRS, CGN, FRA and SXF) and maybe some nearby destination like ATH or PFO.

First of all, sorry for the off-topic.

I would expect an approach similar to those used for flights to Jordan and Israel: nearby airports like ATH, PFO, OTP, SOF,... and then some Polish, German, Italian,... cities. Personally I'd like STN too, but I can't see it coming.
But then there is the Turkish approach, where Ryanair only serves Dalaman and only from Dublin. But this is more because of rights, so I don't think Ryanair would have that problem in Armenia.

Then, another question is: what airport to use?
- Yerevan Zvarnots EVN is the international gate to Armenia, and has very new infrastructure.
- Gyumri LWN is the low-cost airport for Armenia, in a similar position as KUT for Georgia. Ryanair already declined flying to KUT as it is far away from Tbilisi, so might do the same in Armenia. At the moment, only Pobeda serves the airport, with flights to Russia.
- Yerevan Erebuni UDYE might be the surprise, as now is a military airport, and infrastructure is not the best possible, but I have seen some interest from Ryanair in operating from this airport, as it is really close to the center (but a similar distance as EVN is) and is not owned by Corporación América as the other two, so it might be easier to negotiate fees with Armenian government directly.

Thenoflyzone · Mon Mar 11, 2019 12:08 pm

opticalilyushin wrote:
Dust off the old Armavia IL-86 and I'll be on the first flight!!!!

I scratched that off my bucket list in 1998. Back then, it was Armenian Airlines, not Armavia. I flew the Il-86 on FRA-EVN & EVN-CDG that year. Wonderful plane ! At FRA, we boarded at a remote parking with the built-in stairs, no less.

albertocsc wrote:
Then, another question is: what airport to use?
- Yerevan Zvarnots EVN is the international gate to Armenia, and has very new infrastructure.
- Gyumri LWN is the low-cost airport for Armenia, in a similar position as KUT for Georgia. Ryanair already declined flying to KUT as it is far away from Tbilisi, so might do the same in Armenia. At the moment, only Pobeda serves the airport, with flights to Russia.
- Yerevan Erebuni UDYE might be the surprise, as now is a military airport, and infrastructure is not the best possible, but I have seen some interest from Ryanair in operating from this airport, as it is really close to the center (but a similar distance as EVN is) and is not owned by Corporación América as the other two, so it might be easier to negotiate fees with Armenian government directly.

That question has one answer. EVN

If Ryanair will serve Yerevan, it will be EVN. Erebuni doesn`t have the infrastructure for commercial passenger service.

Galwayman wrote:
TK owns the Armenian market , and the Lebanese, Israeli, Iranian etc long haul market big time

Lol.....The stupid people on this forum never cease to amaze me....

SCQ83 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:29 pm

albertocsc wrote:
I would expect an approach similar to those used for flights to Jordan and Israel: nearby airports like ATH, PFO, OTP, SOF,... and then some Polish, German, Italian,... cities. Personally I'd like STN too, but I can't see it coming.
But then there is the Turkish approach, where Ryanair only serves Dalaman and only from Dublin. But this is more because of rights, so I don't think Ryanair would have that problem in Armenia

There is no "Turkish approach" from Ryanair. They started one or two routes.

Jordan and Israel are two completely different markets compared to Armenia.

Eilat and Aqaba flights are just to get tourists (pretty much 0 local traffic) to those resorts. So Eastern Europe is fine because flights are shorter (and more competitive compared to Canary Islands or Morocco). Ryanair to Tel Aviv and Amman is about complementing the existing offer of El Al and Royal Jordanian (in the case of AMM there is not a single FR route that is also flown by RJ). Before Ryanair, there were no lack of flights from the UK or Germany to TLV or AMM!

Armenia is a completely different situation. Without a proper legacy carrier, it is about connecting Armenia to Europe. In that sense, it would be much more similar to Wizzair in Kutaisi or even Skopje.

marcogr12 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:02 pm

I don't know about long-haul but i do know that if FR or W6 were to enter the market and connect Armenia to the rest of Europe and ME it would be a blessing..We have a large armenian diaspora in Greece and there are only flights from ATH with A3 and charter flights to SKG with A3 and Armenian air company...It would be great if FR flew year round to ATH,SKG from Yerevan and also made Crete,Rhodes and other islands more accessible to armenian travellers but more importantly if it opened up Europe to Armenia with flights to STN,FCO,BGY,CPH,BVA,WMI,KRK,OTP,PFO etc.I don't think FR would have a problem with EVN..in Ukraine they chose KBP over IEV where Wizzair reigns..

p.s. Those of you who have no clue about the sufferings of the armenian people,please read wikipedia or some other historical source before you write monstrously laughable things like connecting in IST or TK reigning supreme in Armenia..It's so outrageous it makes you wanna bang your head against the wall...Thanx

travelin man · Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:32 pm

I live in Glendale CA which is basically the capital of Armenia outside of Armenia. When I’ve asked Armenians I’ve known how often they get back to Armenia the answer seems to be less than once every 10 years (if ever), and the most common way they get there seems to be SU via SVO. Just for what it’s worth...

Blerg · Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:13 pm

travelin man wrote:
I live in Glendale CA which is basically the capital of Armenia outside of Armenia. When I’ve asked Armenians I’ve known how often they get back to Armenia the answer seems to be less than once every 10 years (if ever), and the most common way they get there seems to be SU via SVO. Just for what it’s worth...

And as someone mentioned earlier today, a lot of Armenians are not even from Armenia but rather from Lebanon, Iran...

konkret · Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:37 pm

SCQ83 wrote:
luckyone wrote:
VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here

I don't think this is a major issue. Look at Kutaisi in Georgia. This summer Wizz Air will fly to a whopping 27 destinations from KUT including Bari, Wroclaw or Tallinn. What are the relations of those places with Georgia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_the ... al_Airport

Ryanair (even more than W6) is an expert in stimulate markets and create demand. Other than VFR, it will boost tourism in both directions.

Georgia is MUCH more attractive for european tourists than Armenia.

Blerg · Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:08 pm

konkret wrote:
SCQ83 wrote:
luckyone wrote:
VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here

I don't think this is a major issue. Look at Kutaisi in Georgia. This summer Wizz Air will fly to a whopping 27 destinations from KUT including Bari, Wroclaw or Tallinn. What are the relations of those places with Georgia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_the ... al_Airport

Ryanair (even more than W6) is an expert in stimulate markets and create demand. Other than VFR, it will boost tourism in both directions.

Georgia is MUCH more attractive for european tourists than Armenia.

For the time being, Georgia is already becoming a bit too commercialized. Armenia still feels more authentic especially if you go and visit their churches and monasteries. Personally I prefer Armenia compared to Georgia.

SCQ83 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:25 pm

Blerg wrote:
For the time being, Georgia is already becoming a bit too commercialized. Armenia still feels more authentic especially if you go and visit their churches and monasteries. Personally I prefer Armenia compared to Georgia.

I don't know to what extent Georgia is commercialised. Specially for Western European tourists, Georgia (and Armenia / Azerbaijan) are still very unknown and exotic.

Maybe it is more popular for Russian / Ukranians / non-EU EE, specially if GE has more favourable visa rules (like Montenegro for Russians). Everytime I fly Wizz Air and take a look at their in-flight magazine there are quite a few adds about property in Georgia (notably Batumi and those ski resorts).

sw733 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 8:50 pm

I think a lot of the "Armenians in Los Angeles" talk is overblown. While LA has, by far, the largest Armenian population in the US, it's still rather small. Official data says around 215,000 people in 2011...which on its own is decent, but as another person said many of these people actually trace their roots to Lebanon, where many Armenians left to during the genocide (as well as some other places, before coming to the US when Lebanon had its troubles). I think the number of Armenian-Americans in LA who not only have strong family ties to visit in Armenia but who actually pack their bags and do it is small. Add to that the lack of tourism to supplement those numbers (for example, Poles in Chicago number about the same as Armenians in Los Angeles but also have strong Polish communities in bordering states, a large tourism base to feed from, and decent connections at WAW) and you end up with what is likely a very small market on a long flight with few connections.

Galwayman wrote:
TK owns the Armenian market , and the Lebanese, Israeli, Iranian etc long haul market big time

They...they don't even fly to Armenia. And the history between the two countries makes the odds that they will...ugh...let's just call it "small".

Kilopond · Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:04 pm

Some guys here must have got it totally wrong: the Turkic brothers of the Turks are the Azerbaijanis, not the Armenians!

However, low budget travellers to Armenia could opt for using WizzAir‘s extensive hub in Kutasi, Grusia/a.k.a. Georgia and continue overland to points in Armenia.

In the worst case they would need an additional railway connection within Europe but this would add just another 19 Euros if the HST ticket is purchased well in advance. (SNCF, Talys, DB etc.). Or take one more Ryanair/Easyjet flight.

That should be quite interesting for that backpacker/LonelyPlanet crowd.

konkret · Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:50 pm

SCQ83 wrote:
Maybe it is more popular for Russian / Ukranians / non-EU EE, specially if GE has more favourable visa rules (like Montenegro for Russians). Everytime I fly Wizz Air and take a look at their in-flight magazine there are quite a few adds about property in Georgia (notably Batumi and those ski resorts).

I think that Russians are more likely to visit Armenia than Georgia.
Relations between Russia and Georgia are far from cordial (war in 2008, Russian forces in Abkhazia, Ossetia etc.).
In Armenia almost everyone speaks Russian and the relations between the two are quite close.

stl07 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:58 pm

flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

That's like asking Indians to take PIA to India.

flyingclrs727 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:27 pm

stl07 wrote:
flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

That's like asking Indians to take PIA to India.

I understand. I wasn't being entirely serious. Still there are lots of major hubs between Armenia and the US like VIE, WAW, CDG, and SVO where passengers originating from EVN could connect. If you look at a the Great Circle Mapper website, SVO is exactly on the great circle between EVN and LAX. There's no way a nonstop flight from EVN to the US can be justified without premium traffic. There are plenty of one stop iteneraries.

stl07 · Mon Mar 11, 2019 10:41 pm

flyingclrs727 wrote:
stl07 wrote:
flyingclrs727 wrote:
Easy Armenia is not far from Turkey. Turkish Airlines fles to hubs across the US. I'm sure they're willing to sell tickets connecting through IST.

That's like asking Indians to take PIA to India.

I understand. I wasn't being entirely serious. Still there are lots of major hubs between Armenia and the US like VIE, WAW, CDG, and SVO where passengers originating from EVN could connect. If you look at a the Great Circle Mapper website, SVO is exactly on the great circle between EVN and LAX. There's no way a nonstop flight from EVN to the US can be justified without premium traffic. There are plenty of one stop iteneraries.

Oh I completely understand. It's just that lately there are so many ridiculous posts these days that I can no longer understand when someone is being funny. For example, a little while back, someone seriously asked why QR wasn't at Tel Aviv

SCQ83 · Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:22 am

konkret wrote:
I think that Russians are more likely to visit Armenia than Georgia.
Relations between Russia and Georgia are far from cordial (war in 2008, Russian forces in Abkhazia, Ossetia etc.).
In Armenia almost everyone speaks Russian and the relations between the two are quite close.

Pobeda (Aeroflot) thinks differently:

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... f-11mar19/

Ekaterinburg – Batumi 07JUN19 – 29SEP19 4 weekly
Kazan – Batumi 26MAY19 – 29SEP19 4 weekly
Krasnodar – Batumi 07JUN19 – 29SEP19 4 weekly
Perm – Batumi 06JUN19 – 28SEP19 3 weekly

dazeflight · Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:13 am

luckyone wrote:
SCQ83 wrote:
luckyone wrote:
VFR traffic typically requires the FR, and there is very little here

I don't think this is a major issue. Look at Kutaisi in Georgia. This summer Wizz Air will fly to a whopping 27 destinations from KUT including Bari, Wroclaw or Tallinn. What are the relations of those places with Georgia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_the ... al_Airport

Ryanair (even more than W6) is an expert in stimulate markets and create demand. Other than VFR, it will boost tourism in both directions.

Sorry. I mean specifically with regards to US-Armenia nonstops, and I would argue the same about long haul flights out of Armenia. European low-costs are indeed a different matter.

Plus, Georgia itself is a trending location for Europeans since a few years. Armenia (unfortunately) isn't.

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