LOS ANGELES—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has launched an online survey—lax2evn.org— to measure and demonstrate to international carriers and Los Angeles area airports that the market is growing for tourism and business travelers from the US to Armenia. This means there is a market opportunity to establish non-stop airline service from the US to Armenia.

“The year-over-year statistics show that tourism and business travel to Armenia has been consistently growing. With Armenia poised for economic growth, the time is ripe to establish non-stop airline service between Los Angeles and Yerevan to accelerate the constructive ties with the movement of people and goods between the US and Armenia, a ‘win-win’ for both countries,” said Zanku Armenian, who has years of professional experience in aviation matters. “Imagine getting on a plane in LA and stepping off in Yerevan. This will be a dramatic convenience for travelers with reduced travel time and faster movement of cargo.”

The survey is designed to collect community feedback on the demand for non-stop service between the US and Armenia, based on convenience, connection cities, cost and time-savings. Airlines and airports use survey data to help them gauge market interest in commercially sustainable routes to new international destinations. The survey takes approximately four minutes to complete. Aggregate data will be used to demonstrate market potential, but individual responses will be kept confidential and will not be shared with any third parties.

Travel to Armenia marked double-digit growth in 2018 with the demand for flights from the United States to Armenia continuing to grow—driving tourism as a major engine of Armenia’s prosperity. Currently, travelers from the US need to purchase tickets using connecting flights on foreign carriers, often with long layovers. This effort is intended to create an effortless, convenient, and speedy connection in getting from one country to the other.

In September 2018, ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian called on the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the US Department of Transportation to take the concrete steps needed to facilitate non-stop commercial flights between the US and Armenia, noting that “a non-stop connection would eliminate significant inconvenience for Americans and create new revenue streams for US airlines and airports. With a concerted effort, we are confident that there would be a strong and growing demand for the launch of non-stop flights as early as the 2020 peak tourist travel seasons.”

https://armenianweekly.com/2019/05/06/anca-surveying-interest-in-non-stop-travel-from-la-to-yerevan/