Georgian Airways lost around $25 mln due to the Russian flight ban
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, July 30
According to the company’s statement, the suspension of direct air travel between Georgia and Russia was a hard blow for them and put the airline under a “difficult financial situation.”
“The airline had to return 80% of the already sold flight tickets. Aside from that, the number of people wanting to buy tickets has decreased significantly, which caused the company a loss of about 25 million dollars,” reads the statement.
The management of the airline appealed to the Government of Georgia to provide financial assistance to the company in a hard financial position. According to the company’s statement, the Government has agreed to compensate the damage that was caused to Georgian Airways partially. However, the exact amount of reimbursement was not made known.
“We would like to thank the Government of Georgia for its assistance and hope that the existing problems will be fully eradicated shortly,” says the company.
According to Mariam Kvrivishvili, the head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration, after Russia’s so-called ‘tourist embargo,’ the situation has been under constant monitoring, and the final numbers will be available at the end of the month, which will enable for the thorough analysis of the situation.
“We are constantly communicating with the private sector and are watching the situation in the regions. The initial shock, naturally, was tough, 70%-80% of the bookings have been canceled, we are monitoring the statistics daily. The analysis will be available at the end of the month, when all the numbers will be known, which will enable us to assess the situation,” said Kvrivishvili.
According to her, the so-called ‘anti-crisis plan’ is underway, with marketing campaigns in active phases in different countries to popularize Georgia and diversify the tourists coming into the country.
“Marketing activities are carried out in the EU, Baltic, and Gulf countries. We are pleased that we have already received feedback from the private sector. For example, the influx of tourists from Germany has increased; We are also bringing in many guests and journalists, who become familiarized with the ‘Georgian product,’ and afterward, we read and pride ourselves with their articles. This is a work in progress, we do our best to minimize losses,” says the head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
Last week, on July 24, it was announced that the Georgian Government would subsidize transit flights from Russian cities to Tbilisi and Batumi through Yerevan and back with up to 600,000 euros. The maximum subsidy per passenger is 90 euros (excluding VAT). Currently, Georgian Airways is flying to Russia through Yerevan with the support of a partner airline in Armenia.
On June 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned direct flights, including commercial ones, between Russia and Georgia starting July 8. The decision came after protests in Tbilisi that were sparked by Russian legislator’s address from the Speaker’s seat in the Georgian Parliament during the Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy session. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the flight ban was aimed at ensuring the safety of Russians, who might run into danger in Georgia.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, “if hate towards Russians stops, if Georgia will guarantee the security of our citizens, we will be able to talk about the restoration of the flights between the countries.”
Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union called the Russian decision to ban flights to Georgia “unjustified and disproportionate.”
In response to the ban, a campaign called ‘Spend your Summer in Georgia,’ started on social media as a Facebook group and attracted over 100,000 members within its first 48 hours. It serves the popularization of Georgian culture and encourages people from all over the world to visit the country.