Armenia plans to build a railway and a new road which will both serve to better connect Zvartnots international airport with capital Yerevan.
The airport currently is mostly served by taxi and a couple of bus and minibus routes. However, taxi is the main transportation as it is reasonably priced and fast.
Armenia’s minister of communications and transport Manuk Vardanian told a press conference today, that plans are underway to build a train-rail, which will serve for cargo as well as passenger transit by connecting the airport with Yerevan’s metro. He also mentioned plans to build a new road and making sure that it is served by bus and minibus routes more efficiently to provide and alternative to taxi.
Needless to say, that after the opening of airport’s new and shining terminal (I absolutely love it), getting there and back is the only part, which needs improving.
The Corporacion America group of Eduardo Eurnekian, an Argentine billionaire of Armenian descent, took over the Zvartnots airport near Yerevan in 2002 after signing a 30-year management contract with the Armenian government.
The agreement committed it to building a new airport terminal and modernizing other airport facilities left over from the Soviet era.
The terminal’s arrivals section went into service in 2006.
The larger departures area was inaugurated in September. I was one of the first passengers to arrive into the new terminal from Tbilisi.
Eurnekian’s group, which operates over 30 airports across South America, claims to have invested $160 million in Zvartnots’s reconstruction.
The airport’s newly built terminal will employ 1,500 people and have the capacity to process up to 3.5 million passengers a year, up from 1.1 million who used it last year.
The Zvartnots operator hopes to attract more transit flights from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Eurnekian said the upgraded airport will also facilitate a greater influx of tourists into Armenia
The Zvartnots complex is also expected to become soon home to Armenia’s first-ever tax-free zone that will mainly cater for domestically grown agricultural produce to be exported abroad. It will have warehouses equipped with refrigerators, packaging facilities and a food safety laboratory.
Artur Papyan
Journalist, blogger, digital security and media consultant
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EXCELLENT NEWS. I will love to land, take an “airTrain” to the Metro to my apartment!
The minister mentioned, that he’s talking to Russian railways and the aiport’s management to invest into the project. He said the project will be funded by public-private partnership, meaning the government will invest its share too and expressed hope it will happen pretty soon. No clear deadlines, though.
@Observer
>>>…”public-private partnership, meaning the government will invest its share too”
yep, its called..MORE MONEY FOR M-A-F-I-Y-A and THEIR OLIGARCHS, not for the betterment of tourism, the airport, and the country as a whole
@RD
I’m curious to know when you intend on making that 1 video you have of the blond haired-blue eyed ARmenian girl crying her eyes/soul out during a protest you uploaded on YT?
why did you make it pvt.? what is the purpose of keeping it pvt.? do you NOT want ARmenians to see the reality of the ppl and their situation? why even bother to record her, upload it to yt, only to make it pvt.??? I dont understand !
Please public that video again
However, after they created a tax-free zone in the airport, the government is reall\y serious about getting rail there to serve the cargo needs of the logistics center which they plan to operate in the territory of the airport.
One of the problems with flights to Armenia are the ticket prices. They are quite expensive. Flight from Europe to Tbilisi with the same operators are much more cheaper than to Yerevan. Flights from Europe to Asia (india) cost the same. This can be because of the services charges at Zvartnots.
If the aim is to increase the number of visitors its better to find ways to decrease the prices rather than build unnecessary things that may at least cause price increases.
Taxi is sufficient enough and the road connection to Yerevan is neither crowded nor expensive for a rail.
I have never seen any airport in Europe or USA where taxi was enough to communicate with the main city.
Observer, do you want to cover the Kajaran story? It’s a remarkable one.
When the ticket prices are high the number of the visitors won’t grow hence there wont be a need to build a rail infrustructure for an half empty airport. I consider Zvartnots a half empty one in comparison to others i been.
many airports that serve more people than Zvartnots that dont have rail connection with the city, e.g
– LAX (los angeles serves close to 70 mln
– LCA Larnaca Aiport, in cyprus that serves over 5 mln passangers a year ( very busy in Summer time)
Better to try cut the airport service costs rather than put the cost burden on passangers and cargo. Im sure thats whats going to happen with the constructions.
It is just a schema for money laundering.
Next time you’re in LA, save your money, and please don’t misinform the readers:
The LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the Metro train service on several lines around Los Angeles. The nearest station to LAX airport is Aviation Station.
A free shuttle bus from the lower level of all terminals serves the Aviation Station of the Metro Green Line.
The Green Line runs west-east between Redondo Beach and Norwalk. Transfer at Harbor Freeway for the Silver Line to Union Station, or at Imperial/Wilmington Station for the Blue Line.
Trains operate every 7-12 minutes from around 4:15 am to 11:45 pm.
The Metro fare is $1.25 one way, $2.50 round trip.
More information is available at 800 266-6883 or click my nickname.
Good luck.
http://www.airwise.com/airports/us/los_angeles/transport.html
You know that it’s a 40 minute free shuttle ride from LAX to the nearest train station (about 56 kilometers bus ride).
Maybe for now Taxis are enough, not to mention that is the favorite part of trip to sit in an old lada and have a first conversation with a funny driver en route to Yerevan…but we have to consider the influx of tourists expected to grow in the coming few years.
$160 million for Zvartnots terminal? sounds a bit too much
The tax free zone for export is VERY important
They can add affordable schuttle bus service to downtown Yerevan. Building a rail link is just crazy. To achieve an economies of scale it needs to transport quite a few passangers. Considering that in Armenia people mainly prefer to take/welcome their relatives to/from airport, and already built culture around usage of taxis thats going to be some challange to achieve.
My friend, so you offer all people that are engaged in working in/for tax free zone, as well as the products related to that very zone to reach there not by railroad, but by taxi?
The railroad is the cheapest logistics and means of transportation to reach the tax free zone from Yerevan city. Some items, due to their volume and weight can not be transported to tax free zone or back to the city by taxi. And it’s expensive. I can’t believe I’m engaged in explaining all this in detail.
how much will this cost? who is going to pay for it? Who is going to pay for its operations?
It is economically not sustainable as there is no economies of scale. Its operation will eventually be subsidized by the taxpayers as only a minority will pay a fee.
In all countries that I have been rail is either a state monopoly or is subsidized by the state.It is an important public service but not a profitable business. Can Armenia afford it?
not to consider that what they want to do in Armenia is another money laundering scheme like most of the rest of the contraction projects.