You're reading: Kutaisi city hall holding talks with Yanair on launching flights from Ukrainian cities to Kutaisi

Kutaisi City Hall is holding talks with Yanair airline (Zhytomyr) on launching flights to Kutaisi, including from the regional centers of Ukraine, Deputy Kutaisi Mayor Konstantin Kavtaradze.

“Now we’re actively working with Yanair on opening flights from early September. There is a real chance to open flights from Odesa, Kyiv and Kharkiv. We’re ready for the increase of the tourist flow from Ukraine,” he said.

Kavtaradze said that the halt of servicing flights by Wizz Air airline affected the tourist flow from Ukraine.

“Quitting by Wizz Air caused large damage to us. The Economy Ministry of Georgia very actively worked with them, asking not to leave, but they have their own budget, finances and they decided to do this,” he said.

Kavtaradze said that in 2014 around 56,000 Ukrainian visited Kutaisi.

In turn, Director General of Yanair Yaroslav Ahafonov said that the airline would not pay attention to Kutaisi if not for the active position of their city hall.

“With experience of Wizz Air and other airlines we can say that flights from the Ukrainian regions to Kutaisi could be serviced – Lviv, Odesa. If we decided on Kutaisi, it is likely that these would be flights from the regions, as demand for flights from Kyiv is almost satisfied,” he said.

Ahafonov said that the budget of flights from Ukraine does not satisfy airlines due to cost of fuel in Ukraine.

At present, Yanair services flights to Tbilisi (resumed from June 18) and Batumi (resumed from June 6).

Yanair was registered in Zhytomyr on June 15, 2012. In July 2013 it received the certificate for operations. The airline is based at Kyiv Zhuliany International Airport.

At present, the company’s fleet consists of two Saab 340 planes, three Airbus A320 planes and one Boeing 737-300 plane.