NEW AIRLINE: FlyGeorgia Prepares for Take-off

A new, full-service, privately-owned and controlled carrier will connect the Georgian capital Tbilisi to a number of destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Central and South Asia from this year, as well as serving the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) market. FlyGeorgia is expected to operate at least two leased Airbus A319s and a smaller regional jet to provide convenient flight schedules for business and leisure travellers and has highlighted London, Rome, Dusseldorf, Dubai and Delhi among its likely initial destinations.

“FlyGeorgia’s multinational and experienced management will focus on providing quality services and market-demanded frequencies across the network, propelling the airline into a formidable niche carrier segment that will link the continents via Tbilisi and provide convenient onward connections across its network,” a spokesman for the start-up confirmed. The airline plans to take advantage of growing business and leisure traffic to the former Soviet state and help support the country’s economic development.

FlyGeorgia is currently working with United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based consultancy TASC Aviation on its launch and more details on its planned operations are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks. TASC has previously worked on a number of start-up projects including the formation of African carrier Senegal Airlines.

The Georgian market is currently dominated by foreign airlines with Turkish Airlines (THY) holding the largest share of capacity (22.4 per cent) from the country. The carrier offers more than 100 weekly departures linking Tbilisi with Istanbul and the country’s second city Batumi with Ankara and Istanbul. Ukrainian carrier Aerosvit Airlines is the second largest operator from Georgia with flights between Tbilisi and Dontesk, Kiev and Odessa.

The country’s largest carrier is currently Georgian Airways, whose network covers nine international destinations, and which will be the main competitor to the start-up in the local market. The airline’s main services are on the domestic Batumi – Tbilisi sector and from the capital to Moscow and Vienna, although it also serves Athens, Dubai, Frankfurt, Kharkov, Kiev, Sharm-el-Sheikh and Tel Aviv.

The table below highlights the ten largest O&D markets from Georgia during the past year and how traffic has developed in the past 12 months. As can be seen, Georgia is clearly in a period of rapid growth with traffic up by a fifth in the last year. All but one of the top ten markets witnessed growth with five developing faster than the country average. Unsurprisingly it is the Russian Federation that has seen the largest rise thanks to a reduction in operating restrictions with the county.