Routes
After being established, Armenian Airlines operated old Antonov An-12, Tupolev Tu-134, Tupolev Tu-154, Ilyushin Il-86, Yakovlev Yak-42 airplanes from the Soviet era. But following tightening of environmental regulations, these Ukrainian and Russian-built planes were banned from landing in European airports because they did not meet emissions and noise standards. Because of this, Armenian Airlines began leasing an Airbus A310 in 1998, with an option to buy. The contract stirred controversy among those who questioned why the Government airline was, for the first time, using a non-Russian-built aircraft. But some foreign agencies doing business in Armenia said they could not get life insurance for employees who flew on old Russian planes due to the aircraft history of problems. The Airbus, then, became the European link for the "official airline of Armenia".
Armenian Airlines faced disruption on its European operations following an engine failure on its sole Airbus A310 on January 21, 2002, which caused a Yerevan-Paris flight to turn around mid-air and return to Zvartnots International Airport where the crippled Airbus landed safely. On January 28 of the same year, representatives of Armenian Airlines visited London to discuss means for getting the Airbus repaired. According to directors of the company, the repair bill could have gone as high as $2 million, the quickest solution being to replace the damaged engine. Otherwise, the engine would have to be sent either to Brussels, Belgium, or Toulouse, France, for repairs. The A310 was the only aircraft in the Armenian Airlines fleet that met European aviation regulations. It flew every day on routes to Paris, Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
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Famous quotes containing the word routes:
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)