Artsakh Air is planning to start operations later this summer with CRJ-200s linking Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh and Yerevan as soon as the airport in Stepanakert becomes operational. Nagorno-Karabakh is a de facto independent state officially part of Azerbaijan. The announcement has increased tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the Azeri government threatening to shoot down aircraft operating from and to the airport should it be reopened with support from Armenia.