Giorgi Tsikolia, Acting Ambassador of Georgia to the United States of America declares, that since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, the work with American airlines regarding direct flights from the United States to Tbilisi has been suspended.
As the diplomat explains in an interview with BM.GE, the American aviation giants have not been able to fully escape the financial crisis due to the pandemic, which hinders them from adding new directions.
In addition, Tsikolia describes the process that the Georgian side went through in 2019 for direct flights to a strategic partner country.
"We made some progress on this issue and there were one or two steps left to make it a reality.
We talked to airlines before the pandemic. Mrs. Natia Turnava (former Minister of Economy) was in the US. We had communications with three major air companies that operate international flights in the US. One of those three companies expressed interest in launching direct flights to Georgia, but then a pandemic started and one in three companies was declared almost bankrupt. In all three companies, the state has invested billions of dollars to save them.
I want to explain to you easily what a new direction means - it means a new plane, or shifting an existing plane to another direction, which is related to a certain process. Companies have been in a very difficult condition, mostly dependent on state assistance. But, this year the air companies are recovering from the crisis and it becomes real to talk about the additional directions”, - he explains.
Among the remaining steps in the negotiation process with American airlines was some support from the Georgian government.
"The Ministry of Economy was ready to provide additional support to the company during the decision of direct flights. This support could be provided through various tools, including marketing. The next step was to evaluate this proposal. In the process of this assessment, we have moved to another reality (pandemic) and today we have to go back," said the diplomat.
According to Giorgi Tsikolia, American Airlines was most interested in flights to Tbilisi. Tsikolia notes, that the management of the company is changed and in this condition, it is difficult to talk about launching new flights.
Georgian side held meetings with American airlines (United Airlines, Delta Airlines, American Airlines) in September 2019. According to the Ministry of Economy, the parties discussed the procedural issues necessary for the start of direct air traffic between the two countries and to this end, agreed to enhance technical cooperation between the aviation authorities.
