| Airline: | Georgian Airways |
| Fleet Size: | 5 |
| Destinations: | 5 |
| Iata: | A9 |
| Icao: | TGZ |
| Callsign: | TAMAZI |
| Founded: | 1994 (as Airzena) |
| Headquarters: | Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Key People: | Roman Bokeria, General Director replaced by David Gaiashvili (Tamaz Gaiashvili's brother) in 2022 |
| Hubs: | Tbilisi International Airport |
Georgian Airways (Georgian: ჯორჯიან ეარვეისი|tr), formerly Airzena, is the privately owned flag carrier of Georgia, with its headquarters in Tbilisi.[1] Its main base is Tbilisi International Airport.[2] The company filed for bankruptcy on 31 December 2021, linked to a restructuring procedure, and it has been for sale since January 2022. The airline continues to operate a limited number of profitable flights during the restructuring phase.
The airline Airzena was established in September 1993. Initially, Airzena operated charter flights to the United Arab Emirates, Italy, China, Egypt, India, and Syria, as well as a regularly scheduled flight to Vienna. The company managed to achieve recognition and retain its share in the aviation market during the economically and politically complicated period of the 1990s.
In 1999 Airzena became the flag carrier of Georgia. In August 2004, the company changed its name to Georgian Airways. During the first half of the 2000s, the airline's management decided to modernise the fleet, and leased two Boeing 737-500s from Hapag-Lloyd. This was the first case of a Georgian airline operating up-to-date Western equipment.
Following what Russia perceived as anti-Russian protests in June 2019, it banned all flights to and from Georgia starting 8 July 2019.[3] Georgian Airways flights to Moscow-Vnukovo have since been operated by Aircompany Armenia via Yerevan. The ban was revoked by Russian president Vladimir Putin on 10 May 2023 starting 15 May and Georgian Airways announced it would then resume flights to Moscow from 20 May,[4] with the first flight arriving in Vnukovo on that day. In response, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against the airline on 1 July.[5]
Georgian Airways filed for bankruptcy on 31 December 2021, linked to restructuring proceedings,[6] and the airline was put up for sale in January 2022.[7] [8] The airline is in debt of, against in assets. The causes include the Russian flight ban since July 2019,[3] [9] but most of all, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the airline hard. The Georgian authorities banned international air traffic for 11 months,[10] with the exception of a number of monthly government mandated flights for repatriation purposes (operated by Georgian Airways). Georgian Airways cut back on its fleet (such as disposing of its Embraer planes) but with the Georgian resumption of international air traffic in February 2021, it could only offer six destinations.
The insolvency plan focuses on the year-round profitable routes (Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and Minsk) and a few profitable seasonal charters, while guaranteeing these flights. Georgian Airways indicated in January 2022 that it would continue to operate the flights.[11]
As of April 2022, Georgian Airways operates scheduled services from Tbilisi International Airport to destinations in Austria, Israel and the Netherlands, while it jointly sells (but not operates) flights to Armenia and France.
Georgian Airways partners with the following airlines:[15]
The Georgian Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft as of July 2022:[16]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | E | Total | |||||
| Boeing 737-700 | 1 | - | 12 | 120 | 132 | Leased from Aircompany Armenia (06-2021)[17] | |
| Boeing 737-800 | 1 | - | 12 | 168 | 180 | ||
| Bombardier CRJ200LR | 1 | — | 6 | 44 | 50 | ||
| Boeing 767-300 | 1 | - | 18 | 227 | 245 | Leased from US Leaser, Leaser unknown. | |
| Bombardier Challenger 850 | 1 | — | Cargo fleet | ||||
| Boeing 737-800(F)[18] | 1 | 3[19] | Cargo | ||||
| Total | 5 | 3 | |||||
The airline fleet previously included the following aircraft (inconclusive list):
Georgian Airways has a 6/7 safety rating in AirlineRatings.[21]
Georgian Airways is not rated in Skytrax.
Armenia
Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
France
Georgia
Germany
Israel
Italy
Netherlands