The FINANCIAL — Georgian passengers can now fly to Turkey for EUR 59. The newly-entered airline Atlasjet has three scheduled flights to and from Georgia per week.
The entrance of Atlasjet on to the Georgian market is expected to cause a reduction in flight prices on the local market. The company plans to add a new destination in Russia and extend its business in the direction of hotels. The main motto of Atlasjet is to offer first class service at third class prices.
“We have been observing the Georgian market for about a year. Considering the growth of the market and the prospective growth capacity we have foreseen, we decided that we should enter the Georgian market. We are a big tourism group. We have 12,000 beds under 3 different brand names and 12 five-star hotels. And we think that it is a good market for cross benefit also in these terms,” Murat Ersoy, President of Atlasjet airlines, told The FINANCIAL.
“The size of the commercial relations between the countries, growth rate and capacity of the market, intensity of Turkish investors in the country, growth rate of the traffic in the last two years, passenger’s views on comfort/quality and price relation which are the preference criteria are the points we consider before making the decision to enter a market,” said Ersoy.
“The increased competition will have its impact on price policy,” predicted Alexander Gachechiladze, Head of the Transportation Department at the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA).
According to the GCAA, a Turkish airline is the dominant air company with the largest number of passengers. During 2013 it served 166,000 passengers, Georgian Airways is the second most popular airline with 110,000 passengers. It is followed by Ukraine International Airlines – with 92,000; Pegasus served 72,000 passengers; Siberia Airlines – 49,000; Belavia – 48,000; and Qatar Airways – 31,000.
There are 24 foreign and two national airline companies offering regular flights from Georgia.
With 19% Turkey is the most popular destination for Georgians.
“There are over 23 airlines present on the Georgian market. We have such a competitor as Turkish Airlines with 4 flights per week. So Atlasjet’s entrance is not a big challenge for us in terms of responding to the situation appropriately and changing our methods. We do not expect a change in income, but we are really ready to respond properly if necessary,” said Levan Elizbarashvili, Director at the Georgian Avia Service Agency (GASA), general commercial agent of Pegasus Airlines to Georgia.
In Elizbarashvili’s words, it is hard to say whether the company will reduce flight prices. “However, we check our competitor’s prices daily,” he added.
“Atlasjet is an airline which serves not with the low cost concept, but with the full service concept. We are not a low cost airline like Pegasus. We offer the same services offered by THY, the national airline of Turkey; such as free catering, Business Class services. However, our prices are more reasonable. It is our motto to offer first class service at third class prices,” said Ersoy.
“We have the EkonomiPlus service unlike the other airlines. Seat pitches have been specially increased to 77 cm in all our aircrafts; they consist of new and completely leather coated Italian design seats, which means that you can fly comfortably. You can find the same quality and comfort in all our fleet’s aircrafts,” he added.
Ersoy underlined several distinguishing aspects as Atlasjet’s main advantage. He said that Atlasjet is the first private airline in Turkey to have become an IATA member. It is the first private airline using GDS integrated booking technology. It is the only airline in Turkey having Interline agreements with more than 60 foreign airlines. The timely departure performance is always preferential and leading.
“We have 77 cm seat pitch for ensuring that our passengers fly comfortably. And we offer 94 cm seat pitch in Business Class. All our seats are specially designed, coated with leather. And we offer food and beverage free of charge. EkonomiPlus passengers have 30 kg free baggage allowance; Business Class passengers have 40 kg free baggage allowance.
The online check-in service is free; you can check-in without waiting and select your seat free of charge. We also offer local free shuttle service. You can win a free ticket with jetmils collected by our Jetmil Card, which is the loyalty programme of Atlasjet,” said Ersoy.
Destination, quality of service and airport have been distinguished by Elizbarashvili as the outstanding advantage of Pegasus. “Ataturk airport has recently become overcrowded. Due to that a lot of people prefer other Turkish airports in order to spend less time waiting in queues.”
Pegasus served 110,000 passengers in 2012. The company expects to have a 4% increase of passengers.
“One of our main goals is to add new destinations. This year we added flights to Barcelona, Athens and Moscow which are all popular with Georgian passengers,” said Elizbarashvili.
In his words, Antalya remains the leading destination for Georgians. Italy and Spain follow after it.
“We have prices beginning from EUR 59 for flying from Tbilisi to Istanbul. And it is possible to fly from Istanbul to Tbilisi at prices beginning from EUR 50. Ticket price starts from, out of the total cost, EUR 24 from Tbilisi to Istanbul. And it is EUR 15 from Istanbul to Tbilisi,” said Ersoy.
“We will begin flying everyday with flights in both directions as of 1 November. We will offer Antalya-Tbilisi-Antalya flights 4 days a week as of April 2014. And from the middle of this winter season, Erbil-Tbilisi flights shall be realized two days a week with Atlasjet’s Northern Iraq subsidiary Zagrosjet,” Ersoy told The FINANCIAL.
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