Aero Georgia Group seeks to start certification in late 1Q20

Valletta planning to dissolve Air Malta in 4Q22 - report

The Maltese government has advanced backup plans to dissolve Air Malta (KM, Malta Int'l) at the end of October 2022 and to transfer its few remaining profitable assets to a new, as yet unnamed, state-owned airline, reports The Shift independent news platform.

Air Malta declined to comment on the report. "I suggest that you only follow official communications issued by either the company or its shareholder, " Air Malta Executive Chairman David G. Curmi informed ch-aviation on inquiry.

This comes amidst reported doubts in government that the European Commission will approve Malta’s request for a EUR290 million euros (USD297 million) state-funded rescue package for Air Malta. The backup plan would be actioned should Brussels not greenlight the state aid, resulting in the redundancy of the entire Air Malta workforce. New contracts would be drawn up based on current market conditions for all those re-hired by the new state-owned airline.

The plan - reportedly already approved by Prime Minster Robert Abela and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana – aims to achieve a smooth transition from Air Malta...

Egypt's Red Sea Airlines adds first aircraft, a B737

Aero Georgia targets 2H20 launch

Aero Georgia (Tbilisi) is nearing an agreement with undisclosed investors amid plans to start operations in autumn this year, Chief Executive Igor Aptsiauri told Forbes.

"We want to start the certification process as early as possible because it will take another six to seven months. Then we still have a chance to start operations from maybe September, October of this year," he said.

He added that two Eastern European investors would "imminently" decide on their plans for the start-up while declining to name them.

Aero Georgia, which is a part of Aptsiauri-led Aero Georgia Group, plans to launch as a charter carrier with a single narrowbody seating around 150 passengers. The airline is looking to serve a variety of markets, ranging from executive and sport team charters to leisure passengers, flying to Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS region. Going forward, it plans to add one aircraft per year.

Aptsiauri admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic is threatening the timeline but said that demand for charters should be revived by the time...

Aero Georgia seeks European investor

Aero Georgia Group is in talks with a European investor to raise the capital it requires to set up a new Georgian airline, which will be called Aero Georgia (Tbilisi).

“One of the projects we are working on is the creation of a new airline. We are already in intensive talks with a potential investor," Aero Georgia Group Director Igor Aptsiauri, told Caucasus Business Week. "It will be a passenger airline, although the business model is still under discussion. It could be full service, low-cost, mixed or chartered, [it is] still in development. The airline will most likely be called Aero Georgia."

Aptsiauri added: "I am pleased that the investor is from Europe and most importantly from the aviation sector.”

Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) is currently Georgia's largest carrier in terms of weekly seats, commanding 22%, followed by Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul New) with 14% and Georgian Airways (A9, Tbilisi) with 8%.

Tbilisi-based Georgian Airways has a mixed fleet of a sole B737-800, three E190...