The Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia (CACA) reports that Turkey is refusing to provide its airspace for the transportation of humanitarian aid to Armenia.  

The CACA, in a statement, reports that the Qatar Airways Los Angeles-Yerevan humanitarian aid flight scheduled for October 15 will not take place. The airline has not provided any specifics for the cancellation.

Qatar Airways informed the CACA about the cancellation of the flight on October 14. The plane was supposed to pass through Turkish airspace, but Turkey is obstructing the humanitarian cargo from reaching Armenia

CACA Head Datevik Revazyan says that her agency has grounds to claim that Turkey deliberately closed the air route.

“This is not the first time that Turkey has obstructed cargo transportation to Armenia. Even before the war, the country began to create obstacles, requiring airlines to provide a detailed list of cargo as it passed through its airspace. Although the provision of airspace is a sovereign right of each country, according to international practice, data is required only for dangerous goods in order to respond properly in an emergency (Chicago Convention, Article 5). This cargo, moreover, has passed the inspection stage,” notes Revazyan.

The CACA has appealed to EUROCONTROL, an organization for aviation security.

Several cargo shipments have recently reached Armenia from the USA, France and Russia. Cargo transportation is mainly carried out in cooperation with the CACA and Armenian air carriers.