direct Archives

Armenia, China look to launch direct flights

August 11, 2017 by administrator

Civil aviation authorities of Armenia and China have initialed the agreement on direct air transportation between the two countries, the General Department of Civil Aviation affiliated with the government of Armenia reported in a release, adding along with the agreement, the two sides also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between aviation departments of the two countries.

The documents were signed by the Head of the General Department of the Civil Aviation Sergey Avetisyan and the Deputy Head of Civil Aviation Administration of China Wang Zhiqing on a visit to Armenia.

According to the source, the agreement regulates the flight, aviation safety, mutual recognition of licenses and certificates and number of spheres, as well setting the principles for granting permission to air carriers of the two countries.

During the negotiations, the sides reached an agreement to provide mutual fifth freedom traffic right to their airlines in using respective aviation routes.

To remind, the Civil Air Transport Agreement Between the Republic of Armenia and People’s Republic of China of the year1997 expired and required renewal.

US House rep praises ANCA-led Dialogue on direct LAX-Yerevan flights

June 1, 2017 by administrator

A senior member of the U.S. House Transportation Committee has warmly welcomed discussions between Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) regarding the establishment of direct flights between Los Angeles (LAX) and Yerevan (EVN), Asbarez reports.
Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-CA), a nationally respected legislator with a long track record of leadership on a broad array of ANCA-backed policy priorities, represents California’s 32nd Congressional District, home to the ANCA San Gabriel Valley chapter and a large and active Armenian American community.
“I am encouraged that the ANCA and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) have begun a welcome dialogue on establishing a direct LAX to Yerevan flight,” shared Congresswoman Grace Napolitano. “As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, I look forward to lending my support to this creative initiative to explore how to directly connect Armenia with Los Angeles. I commend the ANCA and LAWA for taking the first steps in this regard,” she added.
“The ANCA San Gabriel Valley chapter is proud that Congresswoman Napolitano is backing the ANCA’s goal of establishing a direct flight between LA and Yerevan,” remarked Levon Kirakosian. We are equally proud to have a long working relationship with Congresswoman Napolitano, which dates back to when she was first elected in 1992 as a member of the California State Assembly and her subsequent election to the US Congress in 1998,” added Kirakosian.
The Congresswoman, who serves on the Transportation Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee, is a leading national voice on aviation issues. This Subcommittee has jurisdiction over all aspects of civil aviation, including safety, infrastructure, labor, commerce, and international issues. All programs of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), except for research activities, are within the purview of the Subcommittee.
Earlier this month, the ANCA met LAWA officials http://asbarez.com/163029/anca-lax-discuss-establishment-of-los-angeles-to-yerevan-direct-flights/ about launching direct flights between the United States and Armenia, an ANCA policy priority that will – in addition to saving travelers time and inconvenience – substantially boost tourism, increase business travel, expand cargo traffic, and strengthen U.S.-Armenia bilateral economic relations. The discussions with LAWA Chief Executive Officer Deborah Flint and Deputy Executive Director and Chief of External Affairs Trevor Daley provided an opportunity for a positive and constructive exchange of views about the practical steps needed to establish direct air service between LAX and Zvartnots Airport (EVN) in Yerevan. The ANCA was represented by Chairman Raffi Hamparian and long-time community leader Zanku Armenian, who has extensive experience in the commercial aviation industry, having worked with each of the major U.S. airlines on bilateral aviation agreements and a range of aviation-related regulatory and policy issues.

The ANCA is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to support a public-private partnership regarding establishing U.S. to Armenia flights, involving U.S. airlines and relevant government agencies, among them the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Transportation Security Administration. These direct flights would include both passenger and cargo traffic.

California’s 32nd District covers several cities and communities in the San Gabriel Valley, including: El Monte, West Covina, Covina, Baldwin Park, Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale, Industry, La Puente, Avocado Heights, West Puente Valley, Valinda, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Monrovia.

Prospect of Direct Flights between Armenia and U.S. Assessed

June 29, 2016 by administrator

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Direct flights between Armenia and the US should be based on economic and business factors, said Bridget Brink, U.S. State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Asked to comment on the Open Sky policy of the Republic of Armenia and the perspectives of direct flight between Armenia and the US, Brink noted “I can say I would love to see that possibility. It’s going to be a commercial business decision. And I really applaud the reforms that have been done so far to do the Open Skies treaty and agreement. And that, I know, has opened up possibilities for more flights to and from Armenia.”

“So as Armenia’s economy grows, as the tourist business grows, if Armenia becomes this hub of the region — which would be fantastic — and if some of these things that are, right now, potential barriers including issues like corruption, judicial independence, finding a resolution to regional protracted conflicts – I think the sky is the limit. So we strongly support it in terms of having more options in Armenia. And we’ll do what we can as a government,” Brink said.

Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Brink stated that “The U.S. supports the agreements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict reached during Vienna and Saint Petersburg meetings and does everything for the comprehensive settlement of the conflict.”

“We are trying to be supportive both through co-Chairs and my Secretary of State and we strongly support moving forward the few agreements from the May meeting in Vienna and the June meeting in Saint Petersburg to move forward in both of those confidence building measures and also discussion on a comprehensive settlement,” noted the State Department official.

Brink also stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict hinders the ability for Armenia to fully take advantage of its geographic location.

“Resolution to that [NK conflict] has great potential to Armenia’s economic growth and strength. Because it could open up pathways, both geographic pathways and other connections which could help this whole region,” she said.

“We strongly support economic development, both in Armenia and also regionally. I mean, Armenia is very importantly located in a region that is a crossroads, from the East to the West. And developing that as a possible crossroads for goods, people, services, is very important,” said the State Department official.

Twitter lifts limits on direct messages between users

August 12, 2015 by administrator

AFP/File | Twitter lifted its character limit for direct messages between users

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) –

Twitter lifted its character limit Wednesday for direct messages between users, saying it would help make the private side of Twitter “more powerful and fun.”

As a result, these private messages will no longer have the 140-character limit which applies to tweets.

“You can now chat on (and on) in a single Direct Message, and likely still have some characters left over,” said product manager Sachin Agarwal in a blog post.

“While Twitter is largely a public experience, Direct Messages let you have private conversations about the memes, news, movements and events that unfold on Twitter,” Agarwal added.

“Today’s change is another big step towards making the private side of Twitter even more powerful and fun.”

For now, the changes apply to Twitter users with Android and Apple mobile devices, online at twitter.com or on the TweetDeck application, although Agarwal said the change “will continue to roll out worldwide over the next few weeks.” Limits will still apply to those sending messages over SMS.

The move comes as the California company is seeing sluggish growth in its user base compared with other social networks and faces renewed pressure on its shares as it seeks a new chief executive.

Twitter shares were down 1.3 percent in midday trade, having recovered from last week, when they reached the lowest level since the company’s stock market debut in late 2013.