Russian low-cost airline not to suspend flights to second largest Armenian city of Gyumri. Update

Update

Pobeda Airlines has decided not to suspend Moscow-Gyumri-Moscow flights, says the spokesperson for the company.

In early August, it suspended the sale of winter season flights over a disagreement with the Shirak airport in Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia. It accused the airport of systematically underfueling fuel.

“Today we resume selling flights to Gyumri. The airport has promised to take all the necessary steps to ensure an adequate fuel filling process,” said the representative. “

We are very happy that our clients will fly to Gyumri again”.

Thegeneral manager of the Gyumri airport, Marcelo Wende, apologized for the incident and promised that “the perpetrators will be found and punished”.

“We guarantee that such incidents won’t be repeated in the future”, he said.

The Russian low-cost airline and Aeroflot subsidiary Pobeda [Rus. Victory] may discontinue flights to the second largest Armenian city of Gyumri.

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What are the charges

The controversy began when Russian media reported Pobeda would discontinue flights to Gyumri due to fuel underfilling at the local airport.

Later, a statement was made by company spokeswoman Elena Selivanova, in which she announced that the airline would operate flights to Gyumri only until the end of October.

“Repeatedly, Pobeda appealed to the airport management with a demand to stop underfilling aircrafts. However, airport measures are inadequate, and the problem continues.

“Pobeda will consider reintroducing the route only if the airport agrees to compensate the airline for the cost of underfilled and guarantee proper fuel filling in the future,” reported the company spokesperson.

Conflicting information

Head of the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia Tatevik Revazyan states that Pobeda is not going to stop flights to Gyumri from the winter season.

According to Revazyan, the Civil Aviation Committee will soon meet with representatives of the airline to address the“hypothetical” underfilling issue.

Meanwhile, Armenia International Airports, which includes Shirak Airport, officially stated that “there were no problems with refueling aircrafts.”

What the government thinks

Hakob Chagaryan, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Armenia on Aviation, has already commented on the situation.

He called the accusations unfounded:

“Underfilling cannot be the reason. Firstly,  Pobeda is the only airline to voice these concerns.”

Online vendors

While the controversy remains open, the sale of tickets to Gyumri has been suspended for the winter season.

JAMnews tried to buy a ticket online in the direction of Gyumri-Moscow on different days in December 2019 and January 2020. The application gave the same answer: “No flight options found.”