The leadership of international airports jointly with the Aviation Security Department of CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) have been holding negotiations with representatives of the aviation authorities of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and some other countries for closer cooperation within passenger air transportation since January 2016. Flights from the Azerbaijani regions to popular destinations of other countries are on the agenda.
"In particular, operating flights from Istanbul to Gabala and Lankaran airports by Turkish Pegasus and Atlasjet airlines is being discussed. The Air Arabia low-cost airline can open direct flights from the third-largest city in the United Arab Emirates – Sharjah to Baku, Gabala and other regions of Azerbaijan," abc.az reports.
Recently, a delegation of Israel's national airline – El Al Israel Airlines – has visited Azerbaijan and conducted an audit in the field of aviation security at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku. Representatives of El Al announced plans on opening direct flights from Tel Aviv to Baku by Israel's El Al and Arkia airlines in 2016.
Lately, Russian UTair airlines and Ural Airlines have conducted a number of audits at Baku, Lankaran and Ganja airports, based on which the representatives of the airlines appreciated the level of organization of aviation security and service on passenger flights.
Several Russian airlines stated their intentions to operate flights from St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk to Azerbaijan's regional airports.
Currently, six airports (Baku, Nakhchivan, Ganja, Gabala, Lankaran and Zagatala) operate in Azerbaijan, which have international status and meet all modern requirements in civil aviation. Turkish Airlines (Istanbul - Nakhchivan, Istanbul - Ganja), Russian UTair airlines (Moscow - Nakhchivan) and Ural Airlines (Moscow - Ganja, Moscow - Lankaran Moscow -Gabala) already operate flights to the Azerbaijani regions.
