Georgian Airways announced losses of 8 million dollars on flights to Russia due to the closure of airports due to attacks by Ukrainian drones. The founder of the airline, Tamaz Gayashvili, stated this in an interview with RBC radio.
According to him, due to permanent restrictions in the airspace since September, the carrier had to reduce the number of flights between Tbilisi and Moscow from three to two a day.
Problems arose especially often with evening flights: due to night attacks by UAVs, Russian airports ceased operations, and planes had to be urgently diverted to alternative airports. In some cases, instead of the usual 2.5-hour flight to Moscow, the plane had to make a huge detour - fly around the Urals. This led to excessive consumption of jet fuel, disruptions in connections and the need to pay compensation to passengers.
In addition, Georgian Airways complained about the strict bureaucracy in the regions of Russia. According to Gayashvili, after forced landings, passengers were not allowed to exit the planes for a long time, and if people exited the terminal, they were not allowed back on the plane. Russian services explained this by saying that another flight to Moscow would allegedly be considered a cabotage flight - that is, an internal flight within the territory of the Russian Federation, for which the Georgian airline does not have a license. As a result, passengers had to travel to the capital on their own by train or other flights. In some cases, clearance of aircraft at regional airports was delayed by 10-12 hours.
"We don't see anything like this in any country in the world. We fly to Europe, Asia, and there are times we go to an alternate airport. For example, we fly to Paris and land in Lyon. Passengers stay in the terminal for a few hours, then we fly to Paris," Gayashvili resented.
As Gayashvili says, they repeatedly complained to the Russian aviation authorities, but got no response.