Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijani Airlines (AZAL) intends to start operate six new flights from the Heydar Aliyev International Airport by late May, Head of AZAL Jahangir Asgarov said in an interview with "The Business Year" magazine.

New flights to the Nizhniy Novgorod, Minsk, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Kazan and Rostov are planned to be opened soon, Asgarov said.

"All of these cities are home to a large number of ethnic Azerbaijanis," he said, adding that regional diaspora leaders have repeatedly asked Azerbaijan's national carrier to carry out regular flights to their cities.

Head of AZAL said the company will also open international flights from Ganja to Mineralnye Vody and Antalya, stressing that Ganja has a dynamically developing airport.

Highlighting that the company intends to do everything to facilitate the growth of passenger traffic from Ganja, Asgarov added that there are plans to launch a new domestic flight between Azerbaijani Gabala and Nakhchivan.

"However, the most important routes will undoubtedly be the intercontinental flight from Baku to New York. We plan to carry out regular flights to the US at the end of the summer season. AZAL has already received a permit from the US federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to go ahead with the project. The experts of FAA have praised Azerbaijan's aviation safety compliance with international standards," head of AZAL said.

"This will be the first flight from South Caucasus region to North America," he noted, adding that this will strengthen the status of "Azerbaijan Airlines" as a regional leader in the field of air passenger transport.

Speaking about the new terminal of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Asgarov said that its capacity will be up to six million passengers per year.

Being the biggest Azerbaijani airline and national flag carrier, and a regional and CIS leader in the number of new aircrafts, AZAL offers its passenger flights to European countries, the CIS, Middle East, and Asia. After purchasing some new Boeing aircrafts for long-haul flights in 2014, the airline plans to open regular flights to several destinations in North America and Southeast Asia.

The company cooperates with about 60 airlines to provide its passengers with an opportunity to travel freely around the world.