The Russian low-cost airline “Pobeda” (division of Aeroflot) is considering stopping flights to the Armenian city of Gyumri from winter, reported aysor.am.

According to an inside source, the decision is agreed with the periodical failure of the Gyumri airport not to fully charge the planes. “Unfortunately the company charging planes with fuel in Gyumri airport is failing to do it fully. Pobeda has many times applied to the leadership of the airport demanding clarification. The measures taken by the airport are not enough and the charger continues acting in that way,” the source said.

The representative of “Pobeda” airline Vardan Alexanyan, denied this information, stating that there was a misunderstanding which was eliminated. He said that in summer the airline added the number of flights which will continue in the winter season as well.

The spokesperson for the airline Yelena Selivanova on the other hand confirmed the consideration of cancelling the air flights. “Failure to charge the fuel fully is not a misunderstanding but a serious threat to security. We are calculating clear volume for the flight. Do you imagine what will happen in case of lack of fuel in emergency situations? Pobeda will continue implementing flights to Gyumri only in case of getting clear guarantees from Shirak airport that such cases will be excluded in the future and after getting compensation for the previous cases,” she said.  She also said that Vardan Alexanyan,to  whom the mass media applied to get a comment about the situation, cannot represent Pobeda airline as he is not representative of the company.

Armenia’s Civil Aviation Committee released a statement about the situation over Pobeda airline and the Gyumri airport. “We consider it important to note that the committee has not received official notification from Pobeda airline about termination of winter flights. Nevertheless, to clarify the created situation representatives of Armenia International Airports and Pobeda airline were invited to the committee. As a result of the meeting a decision has been made to set up a task group which will study the circumstances and undertake necessary measures,” the statement read.

At the moment, Pobeda operates 10 flights a week from Moscow to Gyumri. The airline planned seven flights a week in the winter season.