Just yesterday, a BAE 146-300 took off on its maiden journey from Yerevan, Armenia to Tehran, Iran. This is the latest news coming from our airline startup of the week: Armenia Airways. This little startup was established in 2016 and now has a fleet of two aircraft.

Armenia Airways' BAE 146-300 aircraft. Photo: Armenia Airways

New kid on the block

Relatively little information is available about this little airline, especially when compared to much larger carriers. A Google search of "Armenia Airways" provides you with the website of another carrier: "Armenia Aircompany". While it is an equally minuscule airline, it is not the same as Armenia Airways.

As a matter of fact, the only "official" information is found on the Armenia Airways Facebook page - a search result that is listed just below their Wikipedia page. We hope that at some point this company will grow large enough to have their own website and domain!

What we know so far

From the information available, we know that Armenia Airways' first commercial flight took place just yesterday, hopefully the first of many. Between 15th and 23rd June, flights will take place on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. However, as of June 24th the round-trip journey will take place on a daily basis.

🇦🇲 Armenia Airways to launch a thrice weekly service between Yerevan and Tehran on 15JUN19. The frequency will increase to one daily flight as of 24JUN19. Operated by BAe 146 (EK-14601) - Armenia Airways (on Facebook). #Iran pic.twitter.com/O2HvboNMtO

— Aviation Iran (@aviationirancom) June 4, 2019

The flight will use the airline's only BAe 146-300 - registration EK-14601. According to website ch-aviation, the aircraft is 28 years old and was previously in use by the Romanian charter carrier Aviro Air.

Speaking with Armenian media outlet ArmenPress two weeks ago, the airline's CEO said the following:

“This is the first time that our airline will operate a flight. We currently have two aircraft but we will use only one for now. It is a 112-seat plane,” -Armenia Airways CEO Arlen Davudyan

The other aircraft is an Airbus A310-300 with registration EK31002. Ch-aviation fleets advanced reports a third aircraft in the fleet, which is most likely the other A310-300 with registration EK31001. This aircraft reportedly undergoing maintenance in Tehran.

Both Airbus A310s were once under the ownership of Romanian flag carrier Tarom. According to Airfleets.net, EK31002 first took flight in 1992, making it 27 years old.

Armenia Airways utilizes an Airbus A310 once used by TAROM. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Last month we talked about how the Airbus A310 is becoming increasingly rare, as it is being phased out of many fleets. This includes Air Transat's fleet which you can read more about here.

The competition

So far only Iranian carrier Mahan Air flies between Yerevan and Tehran. This is done with a frequency of seven flights per week. According to FlightRadar24.com, Mahan Air's flight between the two cities takes between one hour and 10 minutes and one hour and 15 minutes.

Information regarding Armenia Airways' flight times are unknown. However, as the BAe 146 has a slower cruising speed, flight times may be slightly longer.

Mahan Air also flies between Yerevan and Tehran. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Other airlines connecting the two cities using their respective hub airports include Emirates (via Dubai), Atlas Global (via Istanbul), and Ukraine International (via Kiev).

We're wishing Armenia Airways full flights and soft landings in the weeks and months to come! Do you have any plans to try this airline? Let us know in the comments section!