Azernews.Az

BAKU – The leadership of the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is pressing ahead with plans to reopen the region's sole civilian airport, which was shut down nearly two decades ago, Radio Liberty's Armenian Service reported.

Flights to and from the airport, located 8 kilometers east of Stepanakert (Khankandi), the center of the self-proclaimed republic, had been discontinued in 1991 amid intensifying armed clashes in and around Karabakh, which flared into a full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Transport and communication between the territory and the outside world have since been carried out only by land, through Armenia.

The separatist leadership decided last year to reopen the airport, which was damaged during the war, and raised about 1 billion drams ($2.8 million) for its reconstruction from unspecified "charitable sources." It began building a new airport terminal and repairing the runway shortly afterward.

The self-proclaimed republic’s leaders said earlier this year that a flight between Khankandi and Yerevan could be launched in mid-October. Bako Saakian, the leader of the unrecognized republic, made clear that this would not happen before the end of this year when he inspected the facility, which is still under construction, on Tuesday.

It is expected that Karabakh, at least in the near future, will have a regular flight service only with Armenia. The status of the region remains unresolved.

It is not yet clear whether the Khankandi-Yerevan flights will be carried out by Armenia's national airline Armavia.

A one-way air ticket to the Armenian capital will cost 16,000 drams ($45).

Though the separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh declared so-called independence in 1991, this "independence", which blatantly tramples on international law, has not been recognized by the world community to date.