MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

International Route Development Forum – CONNECT 2018 was open today at the Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi. Tbilisi hosts the 15th jubilee three-day forum and over 500 representatives of 65 airlines and 250 airports participate in it. Within the framework of the event, the Director of the JSC United Airports of Georgia of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ketevan Aleksidze and the Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Agency of France, which is the organizer of the Forum, Karin Butot held a joint press conference.

As it was noted at the press conference, the delegates of the Forum will discuss existing and expected challenges in the field of air traffic, and will provide grounds for the cooperation between the airlines and the airports. According to Ketevan Aleksidze, the aim of the forum is to attract the interest of even more airlines in the Georgian market and add more flight directions.

“The event brought several short-term as well as long-term positive outcomes. First of all, Georgia has been advertising in the aviation sectors of different countries around the world for 6-7 months, since the advertizing was informing the audience that the CONNECT 2018 will be held in Georgia. The advertisement informed the audience not only the conducting the event in Georgia, but it also explained the advantages of the participation in the Forum and the opportunities that Georgia can offer. This is the way of instant increase of Georgia’s recognition. 

More than 500 delegates arrived within the frames of the event. This is direct contribution to tourism. Delegates are sightseeing Georgia and many of them have arrived even earlier. Large number of delegates is staying here upon completion of the forum and plans to travel around Georgia. Yesterday one of the delegates confirmed his admiration with Georgia and highlighted how happy he was when he was given a bottle of wine when crossing the passport control and also noted that this event gave the opportunity to visit Georgia and visit the sights that the country has. 

Here we have the people who take decisions on launching flights by certain airlines to this or that direction. Having opportunity to show them our airports, hotels, our capital and all the things we can offer to tourist, is the greatest chance for us. 

As for the long-term perspectives, entering the market by the new airlines will result in new passengers, additional income for the airport and for every sector linked to the tourism, which is directly related to the development of the country’s economy.

The recent novelty of visa liberalization has given us visa free travel to the European countries, this is a new offer we have and it is very attractive for airlines. We have a lot of scheduled meetings and we believe to have certain results in the nearest future,” – Ketevan Aleksidze stated.

At the press conference held within CONNECT 2018, Executive Director of France Airport Agency Karen Bouto, organizer of the event, noted that the forum will significantly increase Georgia's awareness in the world.

At the press conference held within the CONNECT 2018, the Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Agency of France, which is the organizer of the Forum, Karin Butot noted that the Forum will increase Georgia’s recognition.

“This is an important event and provides opportunities to the aviation community to get familiar with and Tbilisi. The aviation society is massive and this event is a kind of PR activity aiming at representing Georgia as one of the best destinations in Europe. Many airports and airlines have arrived from Europe to participate in the Forum. Yesterday we had a fantastic wine tour in Kakheti. We believe that it will be a very high level event,” – Karin Butot noted.

Georgian Government made a decision to take part in the selection process of host-country for conducting CONNECT 2018 and Georgia become the hosts of the 15th jubilee Forum. Large-scale international forum is an annual event as is normally held in the European countries. 

Forum participant are such leading airlines as Royal Dutch Airlines, Gulf Air, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Ukraine International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, TUI France, Airzena, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, British Airways, Ernest Airlines, Transavia, HOP, MIAT Mongolian Airlines, Tajik Air, PTL Airlines, Flybe, Blue Air, SWISS International Airlines, Iberia, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, Nordica, Meridiana, Pegasus Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Flydubai, Ellinair, Lufthansa, Volotea, Atlas Global, Air France, air Baltic, etc.