Despite an earlier announcement by Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Mahmud Mammadguliyev, the signing of the aviation agreement with the European Union in Brussels during the Eastern Partnership Summit on November 24 did not take place, Contact.az reports.

Of the EaP countries, only Azerbaijan and Belarus did not sign such agreements, Georgia signed the deal in 2010, while Armenia did it during the Brussels summit.

According to the agreement, which is the same for all the countries, all EU airlines will be able to fly directly to a given state from any point of the EU. The agreement removes all restrictions on prices and the number of weekly flights between that particular country and the EU.

In other words, the country's aviation market should be open to the EU companies, and given the monopolistic nature of AZAL, the failure to sign the agreement is not surprising even for Azerbaijani media outlets.

Under EU rules, the airport and the country's national carrier can't be controlled by one and the same person, as is the case with Azerbaijan.