Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) has temporarily canceled all its flights to Armenia because of the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to a press statement by the company on Sept. 27.
The country’s biggest airline, UIA, has come to this decision partly because of the introduction of martial law and mobilization in Armenia. At least 32 people have died in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the last 24 hours, Euronews reported, citing the Armenian-backed side of the conflict.
The next UIA flight to Armenia was scheduled for 8.10 p.m. on Sept. 28, but it’s now canceled.
“We assessed all possible risks and decided that it is impossible to operate flights to Yerevan until further actions are explained by the aviation authorities of Ukraine and until the official position of Baku and Yerevan (is clear) to ensure the security of the airspace in the sky over Azerbaijan and Armenia,” Eugene Dykhne, the head of UIA, said in a statement late on Sept. 27.
As for flights to Azerbaijan, starting on Oct. 4, the airline was planning to resume flights to Baku, but now they may be canceled too.
Apart from UIA, another Ukrainian airline, low-coster SkyUp also operates flights to Armenia. It’s still unknown if the company plans to cancel them, but it is still possible to book tickets to Armenia’s Yerevan for Oct. 2, the nearest flight.
SkyUp couldn’t be reached for comment.
On Sept. 27, Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed military activities against each other over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides accused each other of initiating clashes.
According to international law, this region is part of Azerbaijan. However, the ethnic Armenians have controlled this territory since 1994, the end of the previous six-year Nagorno-Karabakh War.
On Jan. 8, a UIA aircraft was shot down near Tehran by an Iranian missile. It happened soon after Iran had attacked U.S. bases in Iraq with ballistic missiles in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by American drone strike in Baghdad. Back then, Iran didn’t close the country’s airspace for civilian flights.
