Expert: ‘Do not indulge the whims of AZAL and let other airlines to the market`

Baku / 16.09.2016 / Turan: The opening of new international routes to attract tourists to the country is one of the points of the order of President Ilham Aliyev on September 1, 2016 "On additional measures to promote tourism."

Recall that the head of state ordered to establish new international flights and gave the orders to the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Culture and Tourism, the State Administration of Civil Aviation and AZAL.

However, experts are not sure that AZAL will cope with the task.

The economist Natig Jafarli believes that AZAL’s park is not as wide and the company’s aircraft will not allow it to reach the desired destinations.

He noted that it is necessary to let other big airlines to the market.

‘In fact, AZAL is not interested in other companies entering the market, as in this case, the national air carrier will have to revise its pricing policies. However, if Azerbaijan wants to improve the situation in the field of travel and tourism, it should not indulge the whims of AZAL and take measures to attract other carriers,’ said Jafarli.

According to him, in this case, AZAL will also win, as it, or its subsidiaries, will have the income from the terrestrial services in any case. In a competitive environment AZAL will be also able to improve its management and get rid of unnecessary costs.

According to official figures, AZAL’s fleet consists of 28 planes, including Embraer, Airbus and Boeing, including two Boeing Dreamliners.

Note that, despite repeated requests, AZAL has not commented on Turan’s question concerning the measures undertaken in connection with the presidential decree, which direction is considered a priority, as well as whether the number of available aircraft allows the company to open new flights.

Reluctance of AZAL to let other airlines to Azerbaijan, as well as the expensive ticket prices for many years, are among the main objects of criticism. The President also spoke with criticism of AZAL, but in reality it did not go beyond the creation of the budget AZAL Jet.

Everyone remembers the story of the Hungarian low-budget company Wizzair, which after two years of work in Azerbaijan, actually received a ban. The Hungarians were able to restore their work only after the personal intervention of President Ilham Aliyev, who sent not the head of AZAL, Jahangir Askerov, but the Minister of Economy, Shahin Mustafayev, to Budapest to resume Wizzair flights. Meanwhile the Turkish low-budget company Pegasus also received a permit to arrange flights.

With regard to the new international flights, the experts consider the priorities of the Gulf countries and Asia. Citizens of China and Japan are among the most active travelers worldwide, so experts believe that in addition to the Gulf countries, new flights should open in this direction.

The head of the Azerbaijan Tourism Association, Nahid Baghirov, said that, when planning new flights, a large flow of passengers from Arab countries should be surely taken into account.

According to him, the absence of direct flights from Kuwait and Bahrain makes it difficult to further increase the flow of tourists from the region.

‘Arab tourists are very important. They visit not only Baku, but also the province. They come in large groups. We should enjoy the moment. According to them, their friends and acquaintances also come. Each of them with a positive impression of our country can attract 50 visitors,’ Baghirov said.

Of the Asian destinations Baghirov considers flights to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia a priority, and, in his opinion, one of these countries should be chosen to organize a direct flight there.

Note that, according to official statistics, in 2015, Azerbaijan was visited by over 2 million tourists. In 2016 Azerbaijan registered a marked increase in visitors from the Middle East. The country was visited by 25,000 tourists from the Gulf countries, including 11,028 people from Iraq and 10,086 from the United Arab Emirates. Rumors about the ‘Arab orientation’ of tourism started in Baku.

Meanwhile, the number of foreigners who visited Azerbaijan in 2015 amounted to 2,006,200. Of the total number of foreigners 1,921,900 people visited Azerbaijan for tourist purposes, of which 668,800 came to rest, 632,300 - for business tourism, 36,500 - for medical tourism, and 11,500 - for religious tourism.

For comparison, in 2015 Georgia was visited by 5.8 million foreign tourists, of which 38% came for recreation and entertainment, 20% - to visit relatives or friends, 19% - for transit, 9% - for shopping and 5% - for business purposes. ----71B