Armenia’s new JV with Air Arabia named Fly Arna

The Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF) and Air Arabia Group have chosen FlyArna (Yerevan) as the name of their nascent joint-venture carrier following a competition in which over 500 submissions were received.

Derived from the term “ARmenian National Airlines”, Fly Arna will operate as a low-cost carrier using Yerevan as its main base. In the coming days, it will apply to the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee (CAC) for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

Previous reports have pointed to the start-up launching before the Summer 2022 season using both A320 and A321 types. And while not officially confirmed, Air Arabia Group will likely have a 51% stake in the start-up.

Armenia currently has two scheduled passenger operators namely Armenia Aircompany (a subsidiary of Georgian Airways (A9, Tbilisi)) and Armenia Airways (6A, Yerevan). Other start-ups include Shirak Avia, NovAir (Armenia), and FlyArmenia Airways.

For its part, Air Arabia Group has AOCs in the United Arab Emirates (Air Arabia and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi), Egypt (Air Arabia Egypt), and Morocco (Air Arabia Maroc).