MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

The First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development took part in the presentation of the new aircraft "Boeing 767-300" of "Georgian Airways". Levan Davitashvili talked about the current trends in the aviation sector of Georgia, including the positive dynamics of passenger flow growth and the importance of introducing a new, internationally popular airline to the Georgian aviation market.

"The Georgian aviation sector is developing very intensively; we have an especially impressive post-pandemic recovery. Already this year, the rate of passenger flow from Georgian airports is 31% more than last year, which is more than 2,5 million passengers. We also have an increase compared to the pre-pandemic rate. It is very important to note - along with the growth of the economy, the passenger flow at Georgian airports will increase, but in order to make it as useful as possible for our economy, it is important to have direct connections with various economic centres - European capitals, South Asian cities, etc. For this, of course, Georgian airlines have a great role, and for the first time in the history of their existence, we have a wide-body passenger plane - Boeing 767-300,” –Levan Davitashvili noted.

The Minister of Economy was accompanied by the Deputy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili, the Director of the United Airports of Georgia, Irakli Karkashadze, the Head of the “Sakaeonavigatsia”, Gocha Mezvrishvili and the TAV Georgia Director General, Tea Zakaradze. President of the Georgian Airlines Group, Tamaz Gaiashvili introduced to the guests the main indicators and working principle of the aircraft, safety issues, high standards and other advantages of the ship. At this stage, the airline will operate flights using this aircraft to the cities of China, Thailand and India.

As the First Vice Prime Minister explained, the aircraft is the first wide-body passenger plane in the history of Georgian aviation, it was leased by the company "Georgian Airways". In general, "Boeing 767-300" is one of the most popular aircraft for the US airlines and is distinguished by high safety and, at the same time, exceptionally comfortable interior for passengers. The aircraft has another big advantage – provision of long direct flights, and in particular, it has the capability of provision of a continuous 12-hour direct flight.

It should be noted that according to the data of the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia, 13 600 flights are scheduled to be performed during the active summer navigation season of this year. It should be noted that in the period of June-October, the most - 2480 flights will be made from Georgia to Europe, which is 18% of the total number of flights planned from and to Georgia. The frequency of flights with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar) is also increasing. In June-October 2024, 2 255 flights are planned between Georgia and the Gulf countries, which is 17% of the total number of flights.

"I hope that Georgian Airways will be able to continue to grow - this year it is planned to add several airlines and this will allow us to increase the volume of both passenger flow and cargo flow from Georgia." It should be noted that we have also made great progress in terms of air cargo transportation. It is very important for us to take full advantage of the liberal environment that we have in terms of visas with many countries, in which this type of airlines will help us. It will also play a big role in further strengthening our tourism sector," – the First Vice Prime Minister commented.