Meri Thomasyan: Disinformation Has Spread Since Yesterday Regarding 'Sputnik Travel'

The Armenian nationals left stranded at Larnaca airport in Cyprus have successfully returned to Armenia.

We spoke with Meri Thomasyan, the deputy director of 'Sputnik Travel' tourism company, to understand the real reasons behind the situation and the issues that arose.

It is worth noting that Zohrab Eghanyan, a member of the Armenian Football Federation’s board, made a post on Facebook regarding the Armenian tourists stranded in Larnaca, stating that there are citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are unable to return to Yerevan. Eghanyan pointed out that the company operating the non-charter flight did not respond to the passengers' calls and that people were unaware if a plane would arrive, adding that the situation in aviation is disgraceful.

“Disinformation has spread since yesterday. I don’t understand what connection Zohrab Eghanyan has to all this; we will further clarify his link to the situation. It is important to note that he spoke not with citizens but with his relative. The whole issue was connected to the football federation, as the aircraft had gone to pick up the football team,” said Meri Thomasyan.

The deputy director informed that the flight was conducted by the 'Armenia' airline through the agency, and the plane had technical issues and deficiencies. “We warned both the citizens and the hotels, but when we warned the hotels to delay bringing people to the airport, they were already in cars heading to the airport. We were unable to return them to the hotels. The airline informed us that there would be a 3-hour delay,” explained Meri Thomasyan.

“We insisted that the delay should not be too long; they offered us two planes, but it would not have been possible to bring two planes together. The airline changed to a larger aircraft; an empty plane was brought from Moscow to take passengers from here and bring them back from there,” said Thomasyan.

Thomasyan noted that according to the law, the aircraft had not been calculated for that route, food was provided, and everything was done according to the rules—food is provided after 6 hours and hotel accommodations after 11 hours.

“Our office was open until late at night; we kept everyone informed about the events,” added Meri Thomasyan.