Azerbaijan to resume domestic flights next week
By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan will resume only domestic flights at this point and there is no decision to resume international flights yet, vice president of national flag carrier Azerbaijani Airlines (AZAL) said at briefing of the Operational Headquarters on June 11.
The first flight will be to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and will take place on June 18 at 12:00.
As it was reported earlier, AZAL introduced new flight rules, which stipulate that only passengers who passed COVID-19 test 48 hours prior to departure with a negative result will be admitted to the flight in case of providing a special certificate.
Hajiyev said that after a citizen buys an online ticket, information about him will be entered into the database jointly developed by AZAL and the Management Union of Medical Territorial Units in Azerbaijan (TABIB) and all the passengers will be tested for coronavirus for free.
"A citizen will be able to get information from the electronic system about when and where he can take the coronavirus test. The tests will be conducted at the expense of the state, and their results will be valid for 48 hours," Hajiyev said.
Moreover, according to the rules, all passengers arriving in Azerbaijan must have the results of coronavirus test for the last 48 hours.
"It can be applied to passengers returning to the country by charter flights. With this certificate, a passenger can avoid being quarantined," Hajiyev said.
"We have informed international airlines about our rules. If any company wants to perform flights to Azerbaijan observing these rules, this issue may be considered by the Operations Staff. As for the resumption of international flights, this issue will be resolved after appropriate discussions at regular meetings of the Operations Staff," he stated.
He stated that the prices for tickets will be set after the resumption of international flights, however for now it is not planned to increase it.
"The issue related to the new ticket prices is not being discussed now. It will be considered after the resumption of international flights. The seats will be limited. The passengers will be provided with protective equipment. Presently, AZAL does not think about an increase in ticket prices,” vice president added.
Additionally, director of the State Civil Aviation Agency Arif Mammadov noted that for now several countries’ airlines, like Turkey, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Russia want to resume flights to Azerbaijan.
Likewise, Hajiyev stressed that 178,691 tickets were sold by date of suspension of the international flights, and AZAL will fulfill all obligations to passengers who wish to receive a full refund for purchased air tickets.
He noted that this will be possible within 60 days after the resumption of flights, as well as vouchers will be provided for those wishing to change the flight date.
“Most of the people do not want to return the tickets. People are waiting for the resumption of the international flights by AZAL to fly by using these tickets,” he emphasized.
Azerbaijan first introduced special quarantine regime on March 24 and the fourth stage of quarantine regime easing came into force May 31. However, the borders remain closed.
Azerbaijan has so far repatriated over 25,000 citizens from different countries over COVID-19 pandemic. The citizens have been repatriated from Moscow, Istanbul, Kyiv, Minsk, Iran, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Riga (Latvia), Warsaw (Poland), Berlin (Germany) among others.
On June 9, a decision was taken to impose a two-day nationwide quarantine regime in Baku, Ganja, Lankaran, Sumgayit, Absheron, Yevlakh, Ismailli, Kurdamir and Salyan regions, that will be effective from 00:00 on June 14 to 06:00 on June 16.
As of June 12, Azerbaijan has registered 8,882 COVID-19 cases and 108 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of recovered patients is 4,930.
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