In 2026, the airline Georgian Airways incurred about $8 million in losses on flights to Russia due to the unstable operation of Russian airports. This was revealed by Tamaz Gaiashvili, a member of the carrier’s supervisory board, in an interview with the RBC TV channel. According to him, regular unscheduled airport closures led to additional expenses, which were exacerbated by the rising cost of aviation fuel and high handling costs at alternate aerodromes. The situation negatively affects the financial standing and development of the company.
Due to issues with airport operations, Georgian Airways reduced the number of daily flights from Tbilisi to Moscow from three to two starting in September. The company reported that aircraft had to be diverted to alternate aerodromes almost every evening. In addition to extra costs for jet fuel and passenger handling, the carrier faced route changes: instead of the usual 2.5 hours, flights to Moscow sometimes took significantly longer due to detour routes via the Urals. There were also expenses for passenger compensation, and connecting flights were disrupted.
An additional factor was higher tariffs for airport handling and air navigation compared to Russian carriers. Furthermore, the cost of insuring flights to Russia for Georgian Airways increased by approximately 1.5 times. Despite rising costs, the company is trying to maintain reasonable ticket prices so as not to lose passengers on Russian routes.