Air Dispute: Ukraine warns Armenia over Crimea flights
All flights to Crimea must be permitted by authorities in Kyiv, Ukrainian Ambassador Ivan Kukhta warned on Wednesday, reacting to media reports about plans to launch regular commercial flights between Yerevan and Simferopol.
Last week a representative of the Head Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia said that the Russian regional airline that intended to launch the controversial flight had not been allowed to do so.
But the website of Grozny Air, an airline based in Chechnya, Russia, still continues to sell tickets to flights that the company plans to start next month.
Crimean Transport Minister Anatoly Tsurkin earlier also confirmed to the Russian Interfax news agency that an inaugural flight from Simferopol to Yerevan was planned for November 16.
Simferopol-Yerevan flights operated by a Ukrainian airline were suspended earlier this year after Crimea controversially seceded from Ukraine to join Russia in the wake of the change of government in Kyiv. Crimea’s secession referendum was not recognized by the international community.
Talking to media in Yerevan on Wednesday, the Ukrainian ambassador said he had communicated his country’s concerns to the Armenian government and got assurances that “no one has given permission for direct Yerevan-Simferopol flights.”
Kukhta stressed that “all regular flights that are operated from Ukraine to Armenia and vice versa must been agreed only at an official level, through diplomatic channels.”