Azerbaijan Airlines Schedules Regular Flights to Karabakh Region

The integration of the liberated territories into Azerbaijan's air transportation network is advancing rapidly with the introduction of scheduled flights to the country's Karabakh (Garabagh) region.

For the first time ever, Azerbaijan's flag carrier Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) will start regular flights to the Fuzuli district in the Karabakh region.

Starting July 13, the airline will operate regular round-trip flights from the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku to the all-new Fuzuli International Airport.

The flights are scheduled for every Wednesday and Saturday. A one-way ticket to Fuzuli, which will be available on AZAL website, costs AZN 78 ($46).

The Fuzuli International Airport was inaugurated in October 2021.

President Ilham Aliyev broke ground for the airport in early 2021, a few months after the city of Fuzuli was liberated from nearly three-decades-long illegal Armenian occupation. The first state-of-the-art airport in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories was constructed by Azerbaijani and Turkish companies within eight months.

Following its launch, President Aliyev stated that the new airport would serve as an “air gate of Karabakh.”

To transmit radio call signals from the airport, AZAL installed in the airfield the ground-based VOR/DME navigation system. The European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, known as EUROCONTROL, has registered and approved the radio signs transmitted via the system.

Shortly before the inauguration, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) granted the Fuzuli International Airport a three-letter distinguishing geocode – FZL. It was also assigned the UBBF code by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). During the inauguration, AZAL authorities announced the airport open for international flights.

The airport’s runway, spanning 3,000 meters in length and 60 meters in width, received the first passenger and cargo flights, as well as overseas travelers in September 2021. The runway can receive all kinds of aircraft, including large cargo planes and small-sized private jets.

The airport terminal, which includes luggage conveyer belts, registration desks, VIP halls, retail stores, restaurants, and other sections, is designed to handle at least two hundred passengers per hour. The airport’s apron can accommodate eight airplanes simultaneously, measuring 60,000 square meters (645,000 square feet) in size.

Armenia captured Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s. In 2020, Azerbaijani forces liberated Fuzuli from nearly 30-year-long illegal occupation and discovered catastrophic results of the Armenian vandalism. Not a single whole building remained in Fuzuli, only fragments of walls.

Currently, the district is being revived as part of the Azerbaijan’s large-scale campaign to restore and reconstruct the liberated territories.

The master plan for Fuzuli, which is the district’s administrative center, is already developed. According to the master plan, Fuzuli city will cover 1,936 hectares, and by 2040, it will be home to 50,000 people.

The reconstruction and modernization of the civil aviation infrastructure in Azerbaijan’s liberated lands come as part of the state-run programs rolled out shortly after the 2020 war with Armenia.

One year after unveiling the airport in Fuzuli, the Azerbaijani government launched the Zangilan International Airport in the Zangilan district. The air harbor was the second airport built in the liberated Azerbaijani lands after 2020 and the first in the East Zangazur region.

The airfield’s runway measures 3,000 meters in length and 60 meters in width. It is designed to accommodate all types of aircraft, including wide-body heavy cargo aircraft.

The airport supports operating flights in line with ICAO and IATA standards. The flights are monitored from an Air Traffic Control Tower equipped with fully automated air traffic control and aviation communication systems. Flight safety is ensured by modern aeronautical support systems of leading Italian and German brands certified under ICAO international requirements. The cutting-edge ILS/DME landing systems, VOR/DME route aircraft navigation tools, automated aviation and meteorological observation systems, and primary and secondary radar systems were installed and put into use at the airport. All systems are registered in the international aviation catalogs of ICAO and Eurocontrol.

The top-notch terminal of the Zangilan International Airport serves 200 passengers per hour. All necessary service facilities, including a VIP hall, a cafe, a medical center, as well as office rooms are available inside the airport's terminal.