Armavia

Armavia Airline Company Co. Ltd
«Արմավիա» ավիաընկերություն» ՍՊԸ

IATA ICAO Call sign U8 RNV ARMAVIA
Founded	1996
Hubs	Zvartnots Airport
Fleet size	10
Destinations	35
Parent company	Mika Armenia Trading
Headquarters	Zvartnots Airport Yerevan, Armenia
Key people	Norayr Belluyan
Website	www.armavia.am

Air Company "Armavia" (Template:Lang-hy) is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Zvartnots International Airport in Zvartnots, Armenia, near Yerevan. It operates international passenger services from Yerevan to destinations in Europe and Asia. Its main base is Zvartnots International Airport.

is the flag carrier of Armenia

Armavia was the first airline to operate the Sukhoi Superjet 100.

The Armavia company was established in 1996, but commercial flights to Russia and Turkey only started in 2001. In 2002, a strategic alliance was set up with the Russian airline S7 Airlines which purchased 50% of Armavia's shares from the "Chernomoravia" company under the name of the "Aviafin" company registered in Armenia but which belongs to the leadership of S7 Airlines as natural persons. Later, it bought an additional 18% of shares from Mika Armenia Trading company owned by prominent Armenian businessman Mikhail Baghdasarov. An investment contract between S7 Airlines and Armavia was signed on 14 March 2003, at which point 68% of Armavia's shares were owned by S7 Airlines, and the remaining 32% by Mika Armenia Trading.

In 2003, Armavia took over a part of the bankrupt Armenian Airlines' flights. In 2005, Mikhail Baghdasarov's Mika Armenia Trading bought S7's 68% of shares and became Armavia's principal shareholder with a 100% stake in the company. In 2005, the airline transported 513,800 passengers with over 550 people in its personnel. The turnover for 2005 amounted to roughly $90 million. In 2007, the airline transported 572,300 passengers by regular and charter flights, which is a 21% increase compared to 2006.

The airline is owned by MIKA Armenia Trading (100%).

In 2010, the airline transported over 800,000 passengers.

On April 21, 2011, Armavia became the first airline to fly Sukhoi Superjet 100 from Yerevan to Moscow.

Destinations

Main article: Armavia destinations

In 2003, the official national carrier Armenian Airlines was declared bankrupt and consequently Armavia took over many of its flights, although originally not those to Europe, which were operated by another Armenian airline, Armenian International Airways (Հայկական միջազգային ավիաուղիներ). This company was later declared bankrupt in 2005, and Armavia took over European flights to become a national airline of Armenia.

Armavia has always shown interest in serving Los Angeles with non-stop flights from Yerevan, but has not revealed further details on the matter. They also currently lack the proper aircraft to operate the flight.

In 2010, Armavia commenced flights to Tel Aviv and Larnaca.

In 2011, Armavia commenced flights to Stavropol.

In 2012, Armavia commenced flights to Milan, Amman and will resume service to Birmingham and Amritsar

Codeshare agreements

Armavia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Aerosvit airBaltic Air France (SkyTeam)

El Al GTK Rossiya Kavminvodyavia

Kuban LOT Polish Airlines (Star Alliance) RusLine

Transaero Ural Airlines UTair

VIM Airlines

Fleet

Smallest jet owned by Armavia, the Bombardier CRJ200LR.

Armavia Airbus A319-100 at Pulkovo Airport. (2010)

As of July 2012, the Armavia fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 12.3 years:

Armavia Fleet

Aircraft	In Service	Orders	Options	Passengers			Notes
				C	Y	Total
Airbus A319-100	1	—	—	VIP			operating for Government of Armenia
Airbus A320-200	1	1	—	8	156	164
Boeing 737-500	3	—	—	—	—	104	Ex Czech Airlines
Boeing 737-700	0	1	—	TBD
Boeing 737-800	0	1	—	TBD
Bombardier CRJ200LR	3	—	—	6	44	50
Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR	1	—	—	—	98	98	Launch customer, aircraft named Yuri Gagarin Cancelled order for second SSJ
Yakovlev Yak-42D	1	—	—	VIP		27	operating VIP flights
Total	10	3	0

Fleet development

In October 2002, Armavia leased its first Airbus A320-211 EK-32007 from Siberia Airlines, its principal shareholder, to serve routes to Turkey and Russia. It was followed by a second A320, leased (from AWAS), in August 2003, which allowed the company to operate routes to Europe. Both aircraft had been originally owned by Ansett Australia before its bankruptcy in 2002. The first one was later sold to Georgian National Airlines in January 2004. In February and October 2004, Armavia bought two more A320s, also formerly owned by Ansett, but both were lost in 2006: the first due to a crash near Sochi International Airport on May 3, 2006, and the second, only a couple of days later, due to damage sustained during a fire in a Sabena Technics maintenance hangar in Belgium on 5 May.

On March 28, 2006, Armavia leased a fairly new 2004-built Airbus A319-132 acquired by Mika Armenia Trading from the now defunct Independence Air. This was soon followed by a second leased A320 acquired by Mika Armenia Trading from the same source.

On May 15, 2007, Armavia began operating a Boeing 737-300 aircraft it wet leased from Georgian Airways.

On September 1, 2007, Armavia signed a multi-million-dollar agreement with Russia's Sukhoi Civil Aircraft which will supply them with two Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR aircraft by the end of 2009. Under the agreement, Armavia will also have an option to acquire another two SuperJet 100-95LRs in the future.

On December 3, 2007, the government of Armenia acquired an A319 to transport the country's president and other top government officials. The aircraft will be managed by Armavia.

On May 23, 2008, Armavia took delivery of its fourth Airbus A320-214 (MSN: 3492, Registration: EK-32005) aircraft. Plane is named after Armenian famous painter Hovhannes Ayvazovsky . For the first time in the history of the Civil Aviation of Armenia, a brand new aircraft with no flight hours entered the fleet right from the facilities of Airbus in Toulouse, France.

On March 17, 2009, Armavia received its first new A319-111 (MSN: 3834, tail number: EK-32007, name: Victor Hambartzumyan) from Airbus. This new aircraft have the new cabin design, which is more comfortable and as Airbus states is more brighter. The aircraft is operated under a lease agreement with the ILFC.

On August 6, 2009, Armavia began operating a leased CRJ-200LR (MSN: 7373, Registration: EK-20073). It has since returned that aircraft and is now operating an ex. Lufthansa CityLine CRJ-200LR, (MSN: 7282, Registration: EK-20014), which is in full Armavia color scheme.

On April 19, 2011, Armavia took delivery of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 (MSN:97007, Registration: EK-95015, name Yuri Gagarin). In doing so, Armavia became the first company to put the aircraft in commercial revenue service.

On May 6, 2011, Armavia took delivery of the second CRJ-200LR (Registration: EK-20017), which was purchased from Lufthansa CityLine.

On November 23, 2011, Armavia bought a Boeing 737-500 (Registration: EK-73771) from Czech Airlines. One month later, Armavia bought a second Boeing 737-500 from the same airline.

On July 9, 2012, Armavia cancelled its order for a second Sukhoi Superjet 100.

On August 7, 2012, it was reported that Armavia has decided to return its remaining Sukhoi Superjet 100 to the manufacturer, citing reliability concerns. The plane is no longer part of their fleet.

Incidents and accidents

• On 3 May 2006, an Armavia Airbus A320 (MSN: 547, Registration: EK-32009) named after Mesrop Mashtots operating Armavia Flight 967 crashed into the Black Sea en route from Yerevan to Sochi, a resort town in Russia. The fatal crash was a CFIT accident, killing all 105 passengers and 8 crew on board. The aircraft was completely destroyed by impact with the water. The crash was caused by inadequate control inputs of the Captain following a go-around after the first attempted approach. Contributing factors to the accident were the lack of necessary monitoring of the aircraft descent parameters by the First Officer, and the improper reaction of the crew to the subsequent GPWS warning. Poor visibility and weather contributed to the crash as well.

• On 5 May 2006, another Armavia A320 (MSN: 632, Registration: EK-32010) named Grigor Lusavorich, was one of four aircraft destroyed during a fire at a hangar at Brussels Airport, Belgium. It was not known what caused the accident in Brussels, where the Armavia jet was undergoing maintenance provided by the Belgian company Sabena Technics.

External links

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• Official website