But he insisted that the Armenian government is successfully addressing EU concerns about aviation safety in the country.
The European Commission blacklisted Armenian airlines in June 2020 because of what it described as Armenian authorities’ failure to ensure their adequate licensing. The measure was recommended by the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The Armenian government pledged at the time to address the EASA concerns. Senior officials from its Civil Aviation Committee expressed confidence that the ban will be lifted by the end of 2022. That has still not happened, however.
Khudatian revealed that a team of EASA officials visited Yerevan last September to conduct an “audit” of the local civil aviation sector. The officials found “new shortcomings” in the sector and recommended structural and legislative changes, he said, adding that the Armenian side has already taken most of those actions. He said Armenia is moving “pretty rapidly” towards the lifting of the EU ban but declined to give any dates.
“Many of the countries blacklisted [by the EU] in recent years took 10 years to get off the blacklist, but we won't need 10 years for that,” the minister told a news conference.
A deputy head of the Civil Aviation Committee told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in July 2024 that Armenia has made “big progress” towards meeting the EU standards for aviation safety. But, he said, it still does not have enough certified inspectors enforcing them.
The EU ban has not prevented Armenia’s air traffic from growing significantly in recent years, a fact emphasized by Khudatian. Most passengers are flown to and from the country by foreign airlines. The several locally based carries fly only to Russia, other ex-Soviet states and the Middle East.