Azernews.Az

BAKU – The ongoing civil war in Libya has driven up the number of international flights carried out through Azerbaijan and the state-run airline’s revenues.

Vice-president of Azerbaijan Airlines (AzAL) Sabir Ilyasov told the Baku-based APA news agency that some flights have been redirected to Azerbaijan due to the war in Libya and the coalition forces’ shutting down the country’s airspace.

"The reason they have chosen Azerbaijan is both the country’s suitable location and the high level of services provided here," Ilyasov said. "As a result, essentially all cargo aircraft flying from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction that used to cross Libya now pass through the Baku airport."

According to the AzAL vice-president, another key reason for the increased number of Asia-Europe flights through Azerbaijan is the devastating earthquake that hit Japan.

Ilyasov noted that the number of flights administered via Azerbaijan has risen by a total of 30 percent since the end of February. The flights have surged to a point that it is hard to service fuel to planes, he said.

"We could even increase the number of flights a little more, but there is no way to service enough fuel. The capacities of our plants do not allow to do this."

Ilyasov added that AzAL receives 230 manats (around $290) in revenue per ton of serviced fuel.