Airlines in discussions over Serbia - Georgia flights
Several airlines are in talks over the introduction of flights between Serbia and Georgia according to the “Aviatica” portal. Negotiations are taking place for services to be launched from Belgrade to both the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and the country’s third largest city of Kutaisi, as well as between Niš and Kutaisi. Talks are being facilitated by the Georgian embassy in Greece, which covers Serbia. “Currently, airlines are interested in initially operating seasonal summer flights in order to test demand. Although negotiations are still taking place, the initial plan calls for flights to be introduced as early as May 2022”, the portal notes. Kutaisi serves as a base for low cost carrier Wizz Air.
In 2019, Georgia and Serbia signed a joint declaration in Tbilisi with the aim of advancing cooperation between the two states. An emphasis was put on the launch of nonstop flights. The matter was discussed in more detail at an Intergovernmental Economic Commission in Tbilisi later on but plans to establish flights were halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. There have never been scheduled nonstop services between the two. Georgian Airways, the country’s national carrier, has a limited network outside its immediate region but maintains operations to key European cities including Vienna, Brussels, Prague, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona. Within southeast Europe, it is only present in Athens.
Belgrade Airport has seen growing demand for flights from the main gateways in the Caucuses, which combined with transfer traffic to and from Western Europe and North America, could provide healthy loads on nonstop flights. Out of the three main Caucasus nations - Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia - Belgrade saw the highest volume of point-to-point traffic with Tbilisi. According to OAG data, during the pre-pandemic 2019, 4.734 passengers flew indirectly between the two cities on a single itinerary, it was followed by Baku and Yerevan. There was also limited demand from the Caucus region of Russia, with almost 2.500 indirect travellers between the Serbian capital and Sochi.
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