YEREVAN (ArmenPress) - "Civil aviation employees will not allow anyone to involve them in political intrigues," members of the Armenian Aviation Veterans Council announced last week.

They spoke at a news conference, which, they said, was prompted by a letter sent by the National Aviation Union to the President, Prime Minister and Parliament, suggesting that Parliament consider a program on rehabilitation of the sector and the necessity of adopting a law on Civil Aviation. The veterans also pledged the Union's readiness to bear the responsibility for dragging the sector out of the crisis.

However, members of the Aviation Veterans Council said the sector's employees disapproved the contents of the letter. Volodya Poghosian, a member of the Council, claimed the letter was a reflection of the ambitions of the former head of Aviation Department Dmitry Adabashian. He also noted that the management of the

Civil Aviation Department is doing everything to improve the situation and some results are already tangible.

In another development related to civil aviation, the communication and transport ministry reported that an Armenian delegation is currently engaging in negotiations in Moscow on giving around 50% of Yerevan-Moscow flights to Armenian Airlines.

Currently only 30% of flights to and from Yerevan to Moscow are performed by the Armenian Airlines.

A senior official of the Aviation Department told Armenpress that, as a result of recent negotiations with France's Airbus company, the terms of leasing one A310-200 airbus have undergone significant changes towards reducing the leasing fee from the previous $500,000 per month to $375,000. This fee is expected to drop to $200,000, beginning in December. The Armenian side has also reached a preliminary agreement on leasing a second airbus.