"Restrictions imposed on flights could be lifted even today”, aviation expert Zviad Chkhartishvili declares.
According to him, the country delayed flight resumption, as the government had to do that in summer.
“I think the restrictions on flights were hasty and chaotic from today 's point of view, but it was caused by the chaotic situation and uncertainty in the world.
Georgia has already delayed flight resumption. We had to start flights when several European countries were opening up. We did not open and what we got - we had at least 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day from the internal spread. We damaged a sector and epidemiological situation still worsened," Chkhartishvili said.
He believes that the resumption of flights should begin today and this must be done primarily in a cost-effective direction. The expert notes that artificial intervention of the government in the aviation should be limited.
"Flight restrictions can be lifted even today and artificial interference should be limited as much as possible. Flights should not be selected depending on whether the country is green or red. The pandemic has affected almost all countries equally. Consequently, cost-effective flights should be selected and the market should be given the opportunity to regulate the situation itself. We should not artificially open any specific direction, while it may not be profitable at all and the air company will not receive any revenue. There is not time for disorder in the aviation… We must limit artificial interference. Now, there is the time for analytical thinking," said the expert.
Zviad Chkhartishvili told BM.GE that aviation market players should determine profitable directions.
"Private airlines will determine the acceptable directions. There is also a civil aviation agency that has information and makes statistics ... For example, before the pandemic there were such profitable flights - Moscow, Kiev, Tel Aviv, Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul ... I still do not understand - why they did not give preference to Istanbul and also why did Doha open and not Dubai, which is one of the serious destinations, "- aviation expert explains.
