FlyArna (G6, Yerevan) has reportedly informed its employees by email that it has started liquidation proceedings, local investigative news site Hetq reported citing anonymous informants. The government has also approved the dissolution of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), a 49% shareholder in the carrier.
The sources said that the airline had terminated all remaining employment contracts, although it also reportedly failed to pay salaries for April and May 2024, which legally it still has to do. ANIF's acting director, Tigran Ghazaryan, had already said that the sovereign fund was looking to appoint a director to FlyArna as it was impossible to approve any payments without an executive in place; once the manager is hired, payments are expected to be processed.
However, ANIF itself is set to cease to exist. On May 23, the government approved a proposal from the Ministry of Economy to liquidate the fund, which was set up in 2019, and integrate its activities into the existing State Property Management Committee under the Ministry of Regional Administration and Transport. Liquidation is already in progress.
As of May 24, the Armenian online business register does not yet include information about FlyArna's liquidation. The carrier has been dormant since mid-January 2024 and has since returned both of its A320-200s to the other 49% shareholder, Air Arabia Group. The carrier's Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) was suspended on March 9. Varuzhan Nergizyan, a Syrian-born Armenian investor, held the remaining 2% of FlyArna's shares.
Also in March, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan conceded that FlyArna had failed as a project and announced plans to liquidate the firm.
The Armenian airline was one of two foreign JVs of Air Arabia Group operating under their own brands, alongside Pakistan's Fly Jinnah (9P, Karachi International).
