Booking a flight was less easy than expected. Armenia Air Company has a website www.armeniafly.com however while attempting to book I kept receiving error messages. I found the same flight on Georgian Airways and decided to give that a try which worked fine and I received my booking confirmation.
Flight details
09-Jan-2020
YEREVAN (EVN) - LYON (LYS)
RM731 (Codeshare A9 3731)
Departure 0820
Arrival 1120
Aircraft : B737-500 EK-73736
Armenia Air Company operates a fleet of Boeing B737s.
Currently (February 2022) their fleet consists of 2 B737-800 (EK-73705 and EK-73792) and a B737-500 (EK-73736). It operated a B737-700 also in the past but that one has returned to Georgian Airways.
At the time I took the flight, Armenia Air Company was allowed to fly to Europe however after an Incident with an aircraft of another airline (Taron Avia), the Armenian CAA has been blacklisted by EASA for poor oversight. As a result Armenia Air Company is not allowed to fly to Europe, they have however found a creative way around this problem you'll read later.
My flight was scheduled to depart at 08:20. No online check-in was available neither seat reservation as that didn't work.
At the gate the aircraft was waiting already. EK-73736, was delivered in 1996 to Xiamen Airlines. It joined Georgian Airways in 2010 and Armenia Air Company in 2016. It's the only aircraft that was ever painted in full livery.
Armenia Air Company offers Business class seats,
I was seated in the Economy though.
Then we were on our way on time out of Yerevan. The B737-500 offers old style seats and the aircraft has 2 bathrooms (1 for Business and 1 for Economy).
The airline tries to promote Armenian cuisine with international food. Therfor the subtle piece of Lavash bread with a pasta with meat balls.
The food was edible but nothing spectacular
Load was not full so I ended up with 3 seats for myself which was really great so I could take a rest .
After a comfortable flight we landed in Lyon rather...not so smooth.
After landing we were bussed to the Terminal in Lyon.
The price of the flight was 290USD, one way fare.
Armenia Air Company, while being a small airline did a good job and I wish them the best for the future.
Oh, and you were wondering how an airline that isn't allowed to fly to Europe still flies to Europe? The airline works together with Georgian Airways which in some way makes them a perfect match.
Airlines registered in Georgia and direct flights from Georgia aren't welcome in Russia anymore. As a solution Armenia Air flies Tbilisi - Yerevan - Moscow, by doing this the aircraft flies from Armenia to Russia and thus avoids the ban of flights from Georgia to Russia. Alternatively aircrafts registered in Armenia aren't welcome in Europe, to avoid this ban Georgian Airways operates these flights from Armenia to Europe if required. They do complement each other! Now still figure out who invented Matsun/Matsoni...
Tickets can be bought on https://www.armeniafly.com/
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