Only Taxi Services Meeting Certain Standards Should Operate in Airport Area, Says Pashinyan

During a cabinet meeting on June 22, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed three decisions that will substantially reform the transport sector.

The first decision pertains to taxi services operating at the airport, whereby only those that meet certain standards will be allowed to function in the area.

The second decision relates to the establishment of a bus route from the airport to Yerevan. "Both are vital issues, particularly from the perspective of our country's image. We are pleased to note that there are significant developments in the tourism and passenger transport sectors. On the other hand, we must consider the fact that a foreigner exiting Armenia's airport sees that no public service is offered to them. This is a serious problem; in any developed country, such a scenario would be nonsensical. The almost chaotic hunting for taxis by passengers is unacceptable, no matter how understandable it may be due to social or employment reasons," he stated. "We expect our services, police, regulatory bodies, and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure to undertake principled work here. I don't know if there has already been a competition or if a winner has been determined regarding taxis, but we must do everything possible. Not just anything, but we must uphold the principle that taxi services not meeting standards should not be permitted to transport passengers from the airport."

The third piece of news concerning the transport sector relates to what has occurred at the Upper Lars border checkpoint, which, according to Pashinyan, is especially connected to freight transport. As a result, the throughput at the checkpoint has increased from 11 lanes to 39.