One of the world’s oldest cities is getting its first ever direct flights from the UK

If you’re someone who prides yourself on booking holidays to lesser-known corners of the world, then we’ve got news that will be right up your street. This year, Brits will finally be able to catch direct flights to one of Europe’s best-kept secrets. 

From summer 2026, the UK is getting it’s first direct flight to the Armenian capital of Yerevan. WizzAir will be launching the new route from London Luton Airport on June 12. 

Yerevan is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, but it’s still a fairly under-the-radar tourist destination. Lonely Planet calls the Armenian city ‘up and coming’. Backed by the silhouette of Mount Ararat (which was where, legend has it, Noah’s Ark landed after the Great Flood), the city is full of grand Soviet-era architecture, chic wine bars and world-class museums. 

It’s home to the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and Museum, which hauntingly narrates the horrors that took place during the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and 1916, and the History Museum of Armenia, which holds a collection of roughly 400,000 objects such as Iron Age altars and maps documenting the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Persian wars of the early nineteenth century. There’s also the Cascade Complex, an impressive five-terraced structure that houses the Museum of Russian Art, the Cafesjian Art Center and the Cafesjian Sculpture Park. 

When it comes to food and drink, the city has traditional taverns serving khoravats (barbecue meats) and a fruit vodka known as oghee alongside more modern, trendy spots. According to Lonely Planet, the summer sees Yervan locals take to the streets every night ‘claiming tables at the city's many outdoor cafes, sauntering along its tree-filled boulevards and congregating at the beloved musical fountain in Republic Square’. 

Once they launch in June, the flights from London to Yerevan will depart every Monday and Friday at 2.20pm and take just over five hours. Return flights also leave Yerevan every Monday and Friday at 11.25pm. Prices for the journey from the UK start from £165.99 while flights back start at just £41.99. 

Alongside the flights to Yerevan, WizzAir is introducing five other new routes from Luton Airport in June. They’ll be to Alicante, Lyon, Corfu, Faro and Turin. 

Discover more of Europe’s most underrated cities here.

ICYMI: All the countries on the UK’s ‘do not travel’ list for 2026.

Plus: Five abandoned train stations in England are being brought back to life. 

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