Baku, Azerbaijan, July 25
By Seba Aghayeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are considering the possibility of launching direct flights, Azerbaijani ambassador to Bulgaria Nargiz Gurbanova said in an interview with Trend.
“The Azerbaijani and Bulgarian governments are considering the possibility of launching a direct flight between the two countries,” the ambassador said. “This issue was raised during a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation in Baku in September 2016.”
“According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, around 16,000 Azerbaijani tourists visited Bulgaria in 2016,” the diplomat said.
“Moreover, we are also interested in arousing Bulgarian tourists’ interest in visiting Azerbaijan,” the ambassador said. “Historically, Bulgarians are well-informed about Azerbaijan. Each Bulgarian has impressions about Azerbaijan. Some Bulgarians studied or visited Azerbaijan. These relations have been preserved and people want to once again come to Azerbaijan, get acquainted with the modern country. A direct flight will help increase the flow of tourists from both countries.”
“Both Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are willing to launch a direct flight, but the decision should be taken by air carriers of the two countries,” she added. “I think there can be such an opportunity when new low-cost carrier Buta Airways launches its activity.”
Buta Airways is the first low-cost airline in Azerbaijan, a structural unit of the CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL). It was founded in December 2016. The airline’s fleet consists of modern Embraer aircraft. The airline is based in Baku, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
Buta Airways will launch its first Baku-Tbilisi flight on September 1.