内容摘要："I've got two wobbly legs, but since the pandemic we can only do one thing at a time with the doctors, so it's been a bit of a slog to get anything done," he said.

"I've got two wobbly legs, but since the pandemic we can only do one thing at a time with the doctors, so it's been a bit of a slog to get anything done," he said.

SmartGate takes Armenian founders to Silicon Valley and Los Angeles for intensive networking with top US companies and investors.But many Armenian start-ups first test their products in their home market.

Irina Ghazaryan, is the founder of an app called Dr Yan that is changing how Armenians access healthcare by enabling them to more easily book appointments with doctors.Ms Ghazaryan was previously working in product and web design when, helped by the fact she comes from a family of doctors, she identified a gap in the market. "Patients couldn't find the right doctors, and doctors were suffering from endless calls."The app operates on a subscription model, with doctors paying to be listed on the platform, and there are plans to expand.

"We are growing at least 25% revenue month by month," adds Ms Ghazaryan. "We are almost break-even in Armenia and that gives us strength to start expanding to other markets, like Uzbekistan."Armenia's tech ecosystem received an unexpected boost in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of Russian IT specialists left their country, and many chose to settle in Armenia.

Meanwhile, US chipmaking giant Nvidia moved its Russian office to Armenia.

Vasily is a Russian IT consultant who relocated to Armenia in 2023. "Armenia was the most friendly to people from Russia in order to help them move, adapt and so on," he says.Flights to the Middle Eastern nation's capital were suspended at the start of the pandemic, but he said he was "actively encouraging" the airline to restart services as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air ended its flights from Cardiff in 2023, and the only direct flight to Paris stopped in March 2024.But Mr Birns said the reintroduction of cargo services was "fantastic news".

The flights will be operated by European Cargo, a British carrier which has an existing base in Bournemouth.Its second UK base in Cardiff has opened with three flights a week using dedicated Airbus aircraft, with the option of increasing to four flights in future.