BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 20. Azerbaijan plans
to make air ticket prices more affordable and increase the
country’s competitiveness among target tourism markets as part of
efforts to develop the tourism sector.


This is outlined in the “State Program for Tourism Development
for 2026–2030,” approved by the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, today.


The program’s action plan identifies improving airfare
affordability as a separate priority area.


Under the document, from 2026 through 2030, Azerbaijan plans to
analyze the competitiveness of air ticket prices on routes
connecting the country with target tourism markets that have direct
air links, compared with competing regional tourism
destinations.


The program also envisages conducting cost-benefit analyses in
the transport and tourism sectors to identify factors negatively
affecting airfare prices and develop measures to address them. The
main expected outcome of these measures is achieving competitive
air ticket prices that would contribute to increasing the number of
tourists visiting Azerbaijan.







The program also includes plans to expand the geography of
direct air connections between Azerbaijan and foreign countries and
increase flight frequencies. In particular, Azerbaijan aims to
launch flights to at least one new target tourism destination
annually between 2026 and 2030, with at least 4 new destinations
added in total. Flight frequency on existing routes is planned to
increase by 20 times.


As part of the program, Azerbaijan also plans to encourage the
introduction of new international flights and attract low-cost
airlines to regional airports. For this purpose, the country will
analyze opportunities and incentive needs for attracting
international flights and low-cost carriers to airports located in
the regions.


The program also envisages developing and coordinating incentive
and compensation mechanisms related to airport fees, ground
handling charges and passenger load factors. As a result,
Azerbaijan aims to increase the share of regional airports in
international passenger transportation.