The Boeing 737-900 type aircraft with tail registration TC-JYN, which took off from Istanbul Airport for the Armenian capital Yerevan at around 1:40 PM, made its first flight with 170 passengers.
Although air travel between Armenia and Turkey has been ongoing since the early 2000s, these flights have been carried out by private airline companies. The start of THY flights, however, holds special importance as the company is state-controlled.
According to THY's planning, the capacity on the route will be gradually increased in line with the rise in passenger demand. In this context, the weekly frequency of Istanbul-Yerevan flights will be increased to 10 as of May 14, 2026. The frequency increase will continue later in the summer season, and as of June 15, 2026, flights will be operated 14 times a week.
Stepan Payaslyan, Vice Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Republic of Armenia, Marcelo Wende, Director of Armenia International Airports, and his deputy Sergey Avetisyan attended the welcoming ceremony held for the first flight. From THY, Vice President of Sales for Eastern Europe Hüseyin Özbek, General Manager of Sales for Georgia and Armenia Kenan İnce, as well as other guests, were in attendance.
The start of THY's flights to Yerevan is seen as a step within the framework of the normalization process between the two countries.
(Agencies, Civilnet)
