According to Haykakan Zhamanak daily, the airport in Karabakh capital Stepanakert will be put into operation in summer of 2012.

As the head of staff at NKR Civil Aviation Department Tigran Gabriyelyan stated, the operations will launch with daily flights on Yerevan-Stepanakert-Yerevan route, with the number of flights to be increased in future.

“The airport should have launched operations on May 9, 2011. Back then, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said he’ll be the first passenger of a flight to Stepanakert. However, the opening of the airport was delayed for technical reasons,” NKR official said.

“Some sources say Azeri civil aviation department’s threat to shoot down the planes bound for Stepanakert was the actual reason behind the delay,” the paper reported.