Review: Georgia National Airlines
By Alexander Ward
Friday, July 4
What Georgian National Airlines lacks in size it makes up for in ticket prices and an impressive range of flight destinations.
A small airline that was set up under a different name in 1998, GN Airlines currently flies to Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkov and Almaty—a list that is set to double this month.
On hearing that a return ticket to Kiev costs a little over GEL 500 I made a hasty booking the day the flight left last week.
Three hours after experiencing a rare customer-friendly business transaction at the ticket office in central Tbilisi I was in the airport lounge expecting a budget experience.
But the flight provided the usual fare of a heavily packaged hot meal and beverages in place of the no-frills approach of ‘budget’ operators such as Air Baltic.
Another advantage is that passengers don’t have to roll put of bed/the pub at some ungodly hour to make it to check-in. Whereas most flights out of Tbilisi leave as the sun comes up, I shuttled off to Kiev at the civilized time of 3:15 p.m.
Company president Giorgi Kodua says this is exactly the gap in the market GN Airlines is trying to fill.
“We offer low prices and standard options: normal flight times, a meal, normal service,” he says.
The onboard magazine provides an enthusiastic introduction to the country for first time visitors, even if it is rough ‘round the edges with a Georgian turn of phrase.
Personally, I defy anyone to not enjoy reading a plane magazine that informs you that “the duration of a flight depends on the destination.”
In all, GN Airlines is a small but enthusiastically-run operation. The company is looking to expand and will begin operating flights to Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Antalya, Urumqi, Dubai, Milan, Frankfurt and Prague.
Kodua says that while GN Airlines currently has only three aircraft it is in talks to buy another two or three this year. By next summer, he says, it could be operating as many as ten.
Perhaps the spirit of the enterprise is best summed up by the opening line on its website: “Welcome to our website. We tried our best to give all the necessary information about our company.”
Trying their best they are indeed. And with competitive prices and friendly service they deserve to do well.