Egyptian military aircraft transits Armenia, lands in Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Egyptian military An-74T-200A cargo aircraft crossed Armenian airspace in March and landed at Ganja airport in Azerbaijan, according to Sputnik Armenia. The flight was conducted with authorization from Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Typically, military flights to Azerbaijan, including those transporting weapons, use Turkish and Georgian airspace. Given that non-civilian aircraft require special permissions, the media outlet contacted Armenia's Civil Aviation Committee to verify the legality of this specific flight.

The committee responded that, per a 2003 Armenian government decision, unless international agreements stipulate otherwise, flights of foreign state aircraft—whether arriving at, departing from, or transiting through Armenian airspace—require authorization from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense and the relevant authority.

Sputnik Armenia also reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which confirmed the existence of a transit flight application.

"On January 31, 2025, the Egyptian side submitted an official request to Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for permission to transit Armenian airspace between March 3 and 6, on a flight route from Egypt to Kyrgyzstan and back. According to the Egyptian authorities, the flight was conducted to participate in military exercises," the ministry stated.

According to Flightradar24, after landing in Ganja, the aircraft proceeded to Kyrgyzstan. On March 6, it landed again in Azerbaijan before returning to Egypt via Armenian airspace.

A subsequent inquiry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sought clarification regarding the stopover in Ganja and whether the ministry considered the Azerbaijani stop a hindrance to the flight's route to Kyrgyzstan. The ministry responded that the matter had already been addressed.

Another inquiry was directed to Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requesting information about the exercises or any other mission of the aircraft. The inquiry also asked whether Azerbaijan was involved in the exercises or transportation.

"In accordance with our jurisdiction, please contact the Civil Aviation State Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic," responded Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Civil Aviation State Agency replied nearly two months later, stating that they could not provide information about the aircraft.

"This aircraft is not registered under our jurisdiction. The requested data is classified and not subject to disclosure," the agency's response stated.

No public information has been found regarding Egyptian military exercises in Kyrgyzstan during the specified period.

It is worth noting that, given the An-74's technical capabilities for short-range flights, the stop in Azerbaijan may have been for refueling purposes; however, no official confirmation of this hypothesis has been received.