On yesterday’s Yerevan to Istanbul flight, scheduled to take-off at 10:45 am, there was an unexpected and somewhat confusing delay. A “Hetq” reporter on the plane stated that all the passengers were ordered to embark and pass through security a second time. Gevorg Abrahamyan, Public Affairs Director for Armavia, told “Hetq” that after the plane was filled with passengers an additional two individuals also showed up with tickets.  A decision was made to remove the additional passengers. According to airline safety regulations when even one person disembarks, security checks must again be completed for the plane and the remaining passengers. The repeated security was the cause for the delay.

Bagrat Avoyan, Director of Bagrat Tours, the ticket sales agent for the flight, told “Hetq” that while the two women didn’t show up on the flight passenger list, they somehow obtained tickets. He claimed that the oversight happened when an agent at “Debi Tour” got the date of the women’s flight mixed up; writing down December 2 instead of December 7. “Debi Tour” Director Grigor Balyan told “Hetq” that it was a human error and that the two tour companies were at fault. “Our sales agent says that the information regarding the sale of the two tickets was conveyed to Bagrat Tours. They claim they never received the information. It was a simple oversight.” Bagrat Avoyan assured us that this was the first such “overbooking” incident this year. However, “Hetq” is aware of many similar incidents that have occurred on the Yerevan-Istanbul flight where passengers have been turned away since all the plane’s seats have already been filled. More on this in a few days.