Central European budget carrier Wizz Air will establish a base in the Armenian capital Yerevan and open several new routes from there.
Wizz Air says it will have two Airbus A321neos located at the city's Zvartnots airport.
The carrier will open new services to eight new European destinations that have been rolling out since the beginning of October this year.
These include Bucharest, Prague, Hamburg, Naples, Nice, Bali, Paphos and Memongen, outside Munich.
Wizz began flights to Yerevan in 2020, and the base expansion will raise its network from the capital to routes 17.
“This development will secure a leadership position in the market with a 30% share,” says Roland Tischner, managing director of Wizz Air Hungary.
Yerevan brings the number of locations established by budget airlines to 34.
Armen Simoneyan, Deputy Minister of Territory Management in Armenia, says the government “have great value” both local and international airlines to develop Armenia's aviation sector.
However, all airlines in the country are currently on the European Commission's Aviation Safety Blacklist and are not operated at EU destinations.
Some operators have also experienced operational problems.
Armenian Airlines said in early April it had temporarily suspended flights “due to fleet updates and acquisition of new aircraft.”
“The acquisition of new aircraft is important for the development of the airline and the opening of new and interesting destinations,” he added.
Joint venture airline Fly Arna put on hold last year on flights just two years after it launched service.
Fly Arna was created by the Armenian National Interest Fund and Air Arabia Group, a low-cost operator in the United Arab Emirates.
