Irakli Karkashadze, the former head of United Airports of Georgia, told BMG that Wizz Air is not preventing Ryanair from entering the Georgian market. The Irish budget airline flew to Georgia for a short time before the pandemic, but has not resumed flights since the end of Covid-19. Currently, budget airline Wizz Air flies from Kutaisi International Airport, which is managed by the body itself. According to last year's data, the airline is the leader of the Georgian aviation market with a share of about 20% and 1.4 million passengers.
"The reason Ryanair did not enter is not Wizzair. It is a very specific company that has its own commercial requirements and specific tariff policy. The benefits of Wizz Air, including Easyjet, in terms of passenger flow and economy are very large. Negotiations with Easyjet began in 2015 and especially in the last two years I was able to make it relevant, I had personal communication for years and we used it.
Wizz Air and Easyjet are no less than Ryanair. Ryanair came and went. Not only because of the pandemic, they actually blamed the pandemic, they could not establish themselves because this is a normal, competitive market. Therefore, Wizz Air has nothing to do with it. Of course, Ryanair's return is interesting and in general its presence on the market is important, the state is not against it, in any case. Everything just takes its time, it requires preparation and long negotiations", - Karkashadze said.
