Senior executives of Flynas, Saudi Arabia’s first low-cost carrier headquartered in Riyadh, visited Yerevan and met with the head of the Armenian government’s Tourism Committee, Sisian Boghossian, on Thursday.
“Flynas will be launching direct flights from Saudi Arabia to Armenia in June 2023,” the committee announced in a statement on the meeting.
It said that the two sides discussed “opportunities for cooperation in the tourism sectors of Armenia and Saudi Arabia.”
Saudi Arabia has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia due to its conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The oil-rich kingdom signaled a change in that policy after its relations with Armenia’s arch-foe and Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey deteriorated significantly several years ago.
The policy change was highlighted in October 2021 by then Armenian President Armen Sarkissian’s visit to Riyadh. Sarkissian sat next to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at the opening ceremony of an international conference held there.
Saudi Arabia signaled more overtures to Yerevan in February 2022 when its Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan held talks on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. It was the first-ever face-to-face meeting of the top diplomats of the two countries.
Armenia subsequently voiced support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair. It remains unclear, however, whether Riyadh is now ready for a full normalization of Saudi-Armenian relations.
Armenia maintains cordial relations with other Gulf Arab monarchies, notably the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Both nations have embassies in Yerevan.
