The FINANCIAL — As a result of the global economical downturn, leading Georgian airline company Georgian Airways – Airzena, faced a reduction of passenger numbers by approximately 15-20%. The prognoses of Tamaz Gaiashvili, Chairman of the Directors’ Board of Georgian Airways, is not overly positive about 2010, but is still satisfied that the company managed to pass certain serious tests in the airline industry and has overcome the economic downturn.
The company recently became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In addition to that, this Year Airzena was again named winner of the Golden Brand Awards, in the category of Favorite Airline.
“From the beginning of our existence on the market we aimed at reaching the prestigious status we have now achieved. At present Airzena is a company in total compliance with the demands of western standards. There is nothing to change,” Gaiashvili told The FINANCIAL.
In 2009 Georgian Airways renewed its air fleet. “We restored all the planes in our possession. We also plan to add three new planes to our fleet by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011. We are positive about the future of our business; it has huge prospects and we will not spare any energy in moving forward,” he revealed.
Gaiashvili says that Georgia’s emergence from the global recession will be more visible in 2011. “Currently I would have to say that the recession is not yet over in our country, as well as worldwide, and this fact has visible effects on our business as well.”
“In order to recover from the economical downturn, Georgia has to solve its political problems first, including the problem of the significant amount of the country’s territory that is under occupation. We seriously need to return to the image of a stable country,” Gaiashvili said.
During winter 2009 Georgian Airways launched the exclusive dream offer – a direct flight to Phuket, Thailand. The company also initiated the arrangement of charter flights to Moscow and thereby served more than 600 passengers. The total number of arrivals and departures in 2009 was 156,054 passengers.
“The team management of our company consists of qualified, professional staff members. Accordingly, we show huge flexibility in order to avoid and reduce the effects of the global recession. Despite these global hindrances, we have still managed to move ahead and not allowed the stagnation of the world’s markets to heavily influence the development of our company. A very important step for us was when we became members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In order to achieve those accomplishments, in particular IATA membership, we had to pass through a series of difficult processes.
Airzena was founded in 1994 and since then we have worked very hard in order to achieve the position we hold today. Our company satisfies all the demands and standards of western markets and therefore we thoroughly deserved recognition for that, in the form of membership to IATA.”
“Georgian Airways is a company of modern standards. We have 12 airplanes in our fleet. This might not be a huge number but we have the advantage of confirming the quality of our fleet. We are working daily on increasing our service quality and satisfying our customers’ demands.”
The challenges for Airzena
“Our business is directly connected with the total economic environment within our country. If economic stability returns and people resume spending money on more holiday and business trips, then the number of our passengers will also rise. The air business along with other businesses is much dependent on the total economic situation. We cannot separate it.
Actually, aviation is a very sensitive sphere. Every disaster, whether political or economical, immediately affects it. Accordingly, the recent situation’s development in Georgia had a negative impact on our business. However we managed to continue business and achieve economic stability within our company,” Gaiashvili said.
Safe flights
Tamaz Gaiashvili claims that the main demand of travellers is their safety; the safety of the flights, also their stability and high level of service.
“Our company’s priorities are permanent and include strict observance of flight safety standards and continuous renewal of service. In addition to this, we have very highly qualified pilots operating error-free flights. Our company has its own safety service and I personally lead the monitoring on aviation safety. Before flight every aircraft is comprehensively checked and prepared for the journey it is about to undertake.”
“We train our pilots in Germany and the USA where experienced and qualified instructors do their utmost in training them. Before becoming IOSA registered airline, our company was observed by European experts during a week.”
In 2009 Georgian Airways – Airzena served 156,054 passengers in total. 84,517 departures and 71,537 arrivals.
In 2008 Airzena served 186,204 passengers. 99,636 departures and 86,568 arrivals.
As for the cargo statistics of 2010: the number was 435,804 kg. The total number of flights – 2,461.
In 2008 the cargo carried was 639,598 kg. The number of flights – 2 812.
During Easter holidays Airzena transported 223 passengers to Moscow and 281 to Tel-Aviv.
The total number of passengers that flew to Moscow by our charter flights was more than 600.
In 2009 the company operated 192 charter flights. In the first quarter of 2010 the number of charter flights operated by the company totaled 51.
Tamaz Gaiashvili says that Ukraine is the most popular destination for Georgians. Besides Ukraine, the number of passengers travelling to Dubai also increased.
Investment in Georgia
Gaiashvili believes that Georgians who succeeded abroad should initiate investments in their homeland.
“I will not underline the airline business as the sole most perspective sphere for investing money in. We have lots of other isometric business directions that can be assimilated. For example, the railway, tourism, infrastructure. Georgians should not wait for foreign investors, we should think of developing and doing business in our country ourselves,” Gaiashvili stated.
“In my view, getting a lot of money in a short time period in Georgia is not very likely. In the longer term, I would name the railway, transport, and tourism sectors as the profitable business directions in our country. Development of the above-mentioned sectors will enhance the overall economic situation of our citizens.”
Airzena recently reduced the ticket price of flights to Vienna by 50%. Future changes are not yet clear. “It is difficult to predict price changes in advance, as it depends on various different facts,” Gaiashvili said.
Airzena plans to offer regular flights to Antalya this summer.
Discussion about this post