Zvartnots International Airport, is located near Zvartnots, 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The airport was built in 1961. It is now the busiest airport in Armenia and the Caucasus. The draftsmen of the airport included architects M. Khachikyan, A. Tarkhanyan, J. Sheqhlyan, L. Cherkezyan and designers H. Tigranyan, A. Meschyan, and constructor M. Baghdasaryan. The airport was renovated in the 1980s with the development of a new terminal area, in order to meet domestic traffic demands within the Soviet Union.
When Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the considerable growth of cargo shipments resulted in the construction of a new cargo terminal in 1998, with modern technical equipment that can handle about 100,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
In 2001, a 30-year concession agreement for the management of operations at the airport was signed with Armenia International Airports CJSC, owned by Argentine company Corporation America, which is in turn owned by Armenian Argentine businessman Eduardo Eurnekian. As part of that agreement, Armenia International Airports CJSC committed itself to renovate and expand the airport in order for it to become a vital link for tourism and commerce between Asia and Europe, as well as to modernize its facilities and services.
As part of those commitments, renovation and expansion work began in 2004, culminating in the opening of a new international terminal on June 1, 2007, after 40 months of work. Yet another terminal is going to be built, housing passenger check-in counters and customs control. It is planned to open in November 2011.
In 2006, Zvartnots airport handled a total of 1,125,698 passengers, representing an increase of 1.3% over the previous year.
In 2007, that number grew to 1,387,002 passengers, a 23.2% increase over the previous year. In 2008 the total number of passengers grew to 1.48 million.
Currently, the airport's manager is Juan Pablo Guechigian.
