The Civil Aviation Committee of the Republic of Armenia (RA) has issued a statement in connection with the reports on detaining a Russian plane. The statement reads as follows, in particular:

"On March 3, 2022, hours before the arrival of the A320 aircraft operated by the Russian Siberia Airlines at the Zvartnots airport in Yerevan, while it was still in the RF [(Russian Federation)] airspace, document problems have arisen related to ensuring the flight suitability of the given aircraft.

According to the airline's decision, the plane landed at the airport of the RF city of Mineralnye Vody, only after which it arrived at the Zvartnots airport of Yerevan.

Due to the above-mentioned circumstance, the planned flight from Yerevan became impossible. The arisen problems were related to between the airline and the aviation authorities of the country of registration of the aircraft, as well as the lessor of the said aircraft.

We consider it necessary to note that no detention was applied regarding the plane, but the flight permit of the mentioned plane was temporarily suspended.

Let us also noted that the planned flight from Yerevan was carried out by another plane of the airline.

The RA Civil Aviation Committee is carrying out clarifying correspondence with the aviation authorities of the country of registration of the aircraft in connection with the problems that have arisen. The operating airline and the aviation authorities of the Russian Federation have also been informed about the issue. The operation of the plane will be resumed after the clarification of the document issues."