Myway Airlines is suspending all but one of its scheduled services this winter as the Georgian carrier deals with a number of number of issues, including renewed tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Myway Airlines chief executive Igor Aptsiauri tells FlightGlobal that the carrier is temporarily suspending all of its scheduled services with the exception of flights to Tel Aviv until March 2019.
He says the Tbilisi-based carrier then intends to "re-initiate" them and add new services as planned next year. The airline intends to continue to operate a number of charter services during the winter.
He says that a number of factors contributed to the suspensions, including "much lower" passenger demand on routes than was forecast, the roll out of changes to the sales system the airline uses, the "unfortunate" events in Ukraine.
Aptsiarui also cites "unfair competition" the Georgian start-up experienced in the first half of the year from the local competitors causing the carrier to "lose" the 2018 summer season.
He says Myway Airlines is also still awaiting approval from Georgian authorities for a "frequency increase" on the Tibilisi-Moscow route - a market the airline intends to serve.
Myway operated its first flights earlier this year and had previously indicated it planned to start services to Rome, Athens, Munich and Dusseldorf this winter.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
