Tbilisi Airport Tariffs Too High For Ryanair

“Georgia is too expensive”, is not a phrase you expect to hear from Westerners or Western businesses. Alas, low-budget airline Ryanair will not be starting flights to Georgia for the time being, with Tbilisi Airport's tariffs being cited as one of the reasons.  

Their Head of Company Development, Neil O’Connor, told 1TV at last week’s CONNECT 2018 aviation forum:  

“The previous Government made a mistake when Tbilisi airport was transferred to a particular company and established high tariffs. Such tariffs are not even applied in Barcelona. There are just up to 3 million passengers in Tbilisi, and out of 50 directions, only 10 of them are to Europe.” 

O’Connor explained that new flights are launched based on where costs are the most competitive.  

“Now more airports want to grow. We need to be careful in our choices. We could not reach an agreement with Kutaisi or Tbilisi at this stage. This door is always open. We will be happy to resume negotiations. We have important plans for growth in the coming years. There is no reason why we cannot start flights to Kutaisi or Tbilisi. Tbilisi is a market which needs development as flights are limited. Too many flights run through Istanbul. I don’t think the low-cost airport 200-kilometers away is a solution to Tbilisi airports high costs. Expenses in Tbilisi are very high” he said. 

By Máté Földi