Azernews.Az

By Vafa İsmayilova

President Ilham Aliyev and Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Officer Stanley Deal have discussed bilateral cooperation and the construction of new airports in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories.

At a meeting held in Baku on April 28, Aliyev noted Azerbaijan's successful cooperation with Boeing and spoke about the role of this cooperation in the development of the country’s airlines. The head of state said that new airports were being built on the liberated territories and stressed that the aircraft fleet would be expanded in this regard.

Stanley Deal described this as very important.

“Two days ago [April 26], I laid the foundation stone of one of them. The first airport, the construction of which we started a few months ago, will be operational in September,” the head of state said.

He also pointed to the potential of the country's cargo aircraft fleet and noted opportunities for cooperation in this area.

“I am sure that our successful cooperation will continue. You have also helped us in developing a cargo aircraft fleet... I think that Azerbaijan is among the leading countries in terms of the potential of its cargo aircraft fleet,” Aliyev said.

Deal expressed honor of being the best carrier in the field of air freight in 2020, given that this process began two decades ago and Azerbaijan has already become a leader in this field. He stressed that achieving cargo capacity is a strategic issue.

“I think this is a great achievement. Because not many countries in our region have such a strong cargo fleet which helps us and also serves the cause of cooperation," Aliyev said.

On April 26, as part of his visit to Jabrayil and Zangilan regions liberated from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war in autumn 2020, President Aliyev laid the foundation of the International Airport in Zangilan. A few months ago, Azerbaijan started to build another international airport in Fuzuli region. The country plans to build the third airport in Lachin region.

The trilateral peace deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the 30-year-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the 1990s.

On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement is set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.

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