“All tickets for August have already been sold out”
The Georgian national carrier, Georgian Airways, has received permission to fly to Russia. The airline will operate seven flights a week to Moscow. The first flight will take place this Saturday, May 20. Earlier, the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia issued a flight permit to the Russian airline Azimuth. It will start air transportation on May 19. Member of the Public Council of Rostransnadzor, former Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation of the USSR, Honored Pilot Oleg Smirnov told MK about how the preparations for the flights are going.
“The aviation connection of Georgia with the cities of Russia has colossal traditions, which are calculated for many decades,” says Oleg Mikhailovich Smirnov. “More than a million ethnic Georgians live in Russia, which is a huge number for such a small nation.
People experienced great difficulties getting roundabout ways to relatives for weddings, funerals or anniversaries. It's good that there will be direct flights now. The summer schedule of our airlines has already been drawn up, in order to take on a new volume of traffic, in particular to Georgia, it was necessary to make changes. Azimuth Airlines found such an opportunity and assumed these volumes.
The honored pilot recalled that the pro-Western President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, took hostility to the resumption of air traffic with Russia, urging to prevent a split between Georgia and Western partners. At the same time, this decision was fully supported by the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze.
— I think that the urgent demands of the population will lead to the fact that they will be forced to take this step. This is also beneficial for the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia, because any decisions are of a mirror nature. This is a world practice.
If the planes of our airline start flying, then the airliners of the Georgian airline will fly with the same frequency. What we are now seeing. This is laid down in the intergovernmental agreement on reciprocal flights. Both airlines have the same scope of rights and opportunities.
Now, according to the expert, flight plans are being drawn up, which indicate the flight time, type of aircraft, its speed and flight altitude. Azimuth will operate flights on domestically produced aircraft that do not fall under either European or American «aircraft» sanctions.
— These are our Superjet 100s, we have enough of them. They are also going to produce Tu-214.
— All planes are taken on lease. The lessor is interested in the fact that the planes fly, this gives them a profit. The more the plane flies, the more they pay for leasing. I don't think Americans would be so stupid with bans.
Everyone, of course, is interested in the cost of the flight. We called Azimuth Airlines and found out that there were three seats left for the first flight on May 19 from Moscow to Tbilisi. The cost of an air ticket is 25,000 rubles.
— Tariffs are flexible, — the girl, a representative of the air carrier, explained. — For May 20, the prices are the same. You can fly from Moscow to Tbilisi on May 29, there are tickets for this flight for 23 thousand rubles, for June 28 — for 20 thousand. Tickets for August are already sold out. They called us, they were interested in air travel, when flights were not even open yet.
Oleg Mikhailovich Smirnov clarifies that the cost of tickets depends on demand.
— The greater the demand, the lower the cost of the ticket. If the plane is loaded by 70%, then this flight justifies itself. If the load is above 70%, there is already a profit. Commercial loading by 80-90% can reduce the cost of air tickets.
It should be noted that there are several other airlines in the queue that want to start flying to Georgia from Russia and back in the near future.