Buta Airways (Baku Heydar Aliev International) has commenced operations with its inaugural service - J29223 Baku Heydar Aliev International-Tbilisi, Georgia - having operated on Friday, September 1. Service was on-board the virtual carrier's E190 VP-BRV (msn 19000737).

Having replaced AZALJET as the budget brand of AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines (J2, Baku Heydar Aliev International), Buta Airways will be deployed on the following routes from Baku: Tbilisi, Moscow Vnukovo, Kyiv Igor Sikorsky, Antalya, Kazan International, Mineralnye Vody, and Tehran Imam Khomeini.

With the onset of the winter 2017/18 season, Buta Airways will also be used to develop services to Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen and St. Petersburg as well as IATA!KVD-Moscow Vnukovo.

Operationally, Buta Airways will gradually assume all of AZAL's Embraer fleet which consists of six E190s and one E170.