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Airbus A330 | 2003



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Airbus A330 | 2003

(TOP)
Airline - Georgian Airways
Aircraft - Airbus A321-231 | 4L-YEF
Delivered to Georgian Airways, 2004
Livery - Standard 1995
Country - Georgia

(BOTTOM)
Airline - Georgian Airways
Aircraft - Airbus A330-223 | 4L-OFY
Delivered to Georgian Airways, 2003
Livery - Standard 1995
Country - Georgia

In 2003, Georgian Airways received two brand-new Airbus A330-200s, registered 4L-OFY and 4L-OFZ. Both were configured with 26 angle-flat Business Class seats and 246 seats in Economy, and introduced on routes to London and Frankfurt (where they often flew half-empty), as well as a new route to Beijing. Shortly after these two aircraft were delivered, in November 2003, the Rose Revolution deposed President Shevardnadze, ending his authoritarian rule. Mikheil Saakashvili, the new President of Georgia, proclaimed in January 2004 that state-controlled Georgian Airways could not continue to expand like it had been doing under Shevardnadze, and that it was a terrible mistake to spend millions of dollars subsidizing air service in a country where a large part of the population did not even have access to running water. Nevertheless, an existing order for six A321-200s (to supplement the six A321-100s already in the fleet) could not be deferred or cancelled, and all six aircraft were handed over to Georgian Airways in 2004-05. The first of these, 4L-YEF, is shown above.

While initially the idea of leasing the six aircraft out to raise money was floated, it was quickly discovered that not many airlines wanted to lease planes from the badly-run flag carrier of an obscure post-Soviet state, and the idea did not work out. However, Saakashvili's reforms and liberalizations slowly began to establish Georgia as a business and tourism destination, creating enough air travel demand to suddenly make the newly-delivered A321s useful. In 2006, 4L-YEG - one of the sisterships of the one shown here - experienced a runway overrun while landing at Damascus. It sustained moderate damage, but the passengers and crew were uninjured, and the aircraft was returned to service soon after. This remains the only accident in Georgian Airways' post-USSR history.

Growing demand in the mid-00s promised a bright future for Georgian Airways, however the 2008 Russian-Georgian war and ensuing travel ban between the two countries caused the airline to lose the entire Russian market, which had been one of its most popular and most profitable. As a result, two A321-100s were sold permanently, and a number of A320s and A321s were temporarily stored in Tbilisi until 2009-10.
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