Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the summit of the leadership of Corporación América Airports in Yerevan.

120 airport managers and executive staff from Armenia, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Peru and Uruguay are participating in the event, presided at by Martin Eurnekian, Chair of the Airports Council International (ACI) World Governing Board and Corporación América Airports Chief Executive Officer.

Welcoming the idea of holding the Summit in Armenia, the Prime Minister pointed out that the activities of the Eurnekian family are highly appreciated in our country.

“We can state quite positively that the activity carried out by the Eurnekian family and Corporación América is of crucial importance to our country at least in two spheres. It has already been noted that by taking over the management of Zvartnots international airport Corporación América brought in a new culture of air services. To be honest, we are all proud of our airport, because we see that it meets the best international standards, and we are confident that in the near future we will have new reasons for pride,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, winemaking is the second sphere, where the activities of the Eurnekian family boasted a turning point. The head of government added that winemaking is currently developing in the Republic of Armenia, and the contribution of the Eurnekian family in this area is invaluable.

“The establishment of Karas Company and the production of Karas wine gave new energy to this sphere and, in fact, caused the revival of winemaking in Armenia. We are grateful to Corporación América and to the Eurnekians for this activity. It is not by chance that Eduardo Eurnekian is the National Hero of the Republic of Armenia. This high title expresses the contribution that he made to the development of the Republic of Armenia, and we are confident that he will continue to make further contributions.

I am glad that today a very good working climate has been formed between the government of Armenia and Corporación América, and Martin Eurnekian has played a crucial role in this matter. From the outset, he did everything to build up mutual trust between the government and the company, as well as a common vision of the future. I am sure that the projects mentioned here will surely become a reality,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister stressed that air transportation is of strategic importance to the Republic of Armenia, since unfortunately our country has been facing a situation of semi-blockade ever since the first days of its independence.

“I said that there are already satisfactory results in this area, and we are looking to the future, forming a further agenda in which I would like to emphasize several important features. It is very important that we, in the end, start to fully exploit the Gyumri airport as soon as possible, which, in turn, will help solve another important problem - lower prices for airline tickets, which is very important for the development of tourism - another strategic area. values. In these matters, of course, we will actively cooperate with our partners.

The next problem I would like to touch upon at this representative meeting is the following: unfortunately, the activities and volumes of local air carriers in the Republic of Armenia are not the same as we would like, as befits an independent, sovereign state. This should be the next direction of our cooperation so that the government and Zvartnots International Airport, the company Corporación América, in cooperation with each other, could create conditions for the emergence of an Armenian air carrier or carriers and their competitiveness. In essence, these are the main, key and strategic directions that we have already discussed several times with Mr. Eurnekian, but this does not mean that the activities of the Eurnekian family and “Corporación América” are limited to those that have been noted,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of investments in the Republic of Armenia. “We are now talking about the expansion of Zvartnots airport. This is very good news, and the airport actually reaches its maximum capacity. This is very good news. I want to emphasize that financial investments are extremely important for the Republic of Armenia and the economy of our country, but I consider more important the new business culture that the company introduced to the Republic of Armenia. This, of course, is very important, because it changes the atmosphere, the image of the country, and it is very important that the image of our country changes not only in the political, but also in the economic plane.

I am pleased to note that in this regard, the Government of the Republic of Armenia and Corporación América go hand in hand, and we wish and are confident that this process will continue, and we will work together to change the image, the content of our homeland - the Republic of Armenia, create a new culture and ensure new development, which ultimately will be crowned with the victory of the economic revolution,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

During the event, the representatives of airports will share their best experience and achievements in the field of aviation, discuss challenges facing the industry, formulate solutions, talk about future developments, new technologies and innovations, as well as other problems of the industry.

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The meetings that started in Argentina in 2014 are being held on a regular basis and seek to ensure higher productivity in the framework of their activities. The previous meeting took place in 2016 in Brazil. Armenia is the host country this year.

Corporación América is one of the largest private airport management companies in the world and the tenth in terms of passenger services.

As of 2017, Corporación América’s airports serviced 77 million passengers, of which 32.8 percent were international passengers, about 55.3 percent had to do with domestic flights, and 11.9 percent were transit flights.