Armenia says it plans to regulate taxi service at the country’s airports by issuing new licenses to all vehicle operators now providing such service.

For years, people arriving in Armenia by air have complained that hiring a taxi at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport is a headache given the bewildering number of private operators, some unlicensed, they face upon exiting the airport.

Armenian Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Armen Simonyan proposed the idea of an Airport Taxi Service that would require operators to pay 200,000 drams for licenses to pick up fares at the airport.

Vehicles would be inspected for cleanliness and serviceability before the licenses are issued.

Simonyan wants all vehicles to bear a white checkerboard sign that reads AeroTaxi.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly today approved the plan, heeding Simonyan’s argument that   airports are “the country’s first face” encountered by tourists.