Armenia’s new national airline, formed in a joint venture with UAE’s Air Arabia, named Fly Arna

Armenia’s new national airline, set to be launched by a joint venture company between Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and UAE’s Air Arabia Group, will be named Fly Arna.

The name was chosen by the board of the joint venture company from over 500 suggestions received in response to a public competition announced in July 2021, a statement said.

Following a review, the name ‘Fly Arna’ was chosen since the word ‘Arna’ is derived from the name ‘Armenian National Airlines’ – by combining the first two letters of the words Armenian and National.

ANIF and Air Arabia Group had announced the agreement to launch Armenia’s new national airline in July 2021.

Fly Arna will operate as a low-cost passenger airline with Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) as its base.

The company will apply for the airline operation certificate in the coming weeks, the statement said.

More details about the launch date, fleet, and destination network will be announced in due course, it added.

“Despite the current challenges of the pandemic, we are confident of the new opportunity that exists for Fly Arna to deliver a winning proposition that will benefit the nation and our people,” said David Papazian, CEO of ANIF.

Adel Al Ali, group CEO of Air Arabia, added: Fly Arna will mark the beginning of a new era for Armenia’s aviation sector, and also create significant value to the economy by boosting the tourism, hospitality and business sectors.”

Sharjah headquartered Air Arabia recently reported a net profit of Dhs44m for the first six months ending June 30, 2021, an increase of 126 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

More than 2.3 million passengers flew with the low-cost carrier between January and June 2021 across its five hubs, it said.

Read more: Sharjah carrier Air Arabia reports H1 2021 net profit of Dhs44m, up 126% y-on-y

Last year, Air Arabia also launched its new joint venture with Etihad Group – Air Arabia Abu Dhabi – as the first low-cost airline to operate out of the UAE capital.

Read: UAE’s new low-cost airline Air Arabia Abu Dhabi operates its inaugural flight