During her speech at the plenary session of the Parliament held on 1 May 2013, Mariam Sajaia, Member of the United National Movement, stated that the former government has taken significant steps towards closer integration with Europe. She mentioned the Kutaisi International Airport as one of the examples. It was recently opened (7 September 2012) and flights to different directions in Europe have already begun. According to her: “Today [from Kutaisi] to Warsaw, to the heart of Europe, any Georgian is able to fly for EUR 40."

FactCheck

wanted to determine how accurate the statement made by Mariam Sajaia was regarding the ticket's price.

In order to verify the information, we contacted the information service at the Kutaisi International Airport at ((+995) 0 431 23 70 00 (01).

Based on the information provided by the service operator, we found out that flights from Kutaisi International Airport to Warsaw are available every Wednesday and Sunday. As for the cost of the airfares, they range from EUR 40 to  EUR 200 with an additional service charge of EUR 10 as a fixed rate. Advance indication of travel with a large suitcase entails a bag-check fee of EUR 30. Non-advance indication raises the bag-check fee to EUR 45. Ticket price is determined by the time of the flight's departure and the number of tickets sold (the price also increases with the number of sold tickets). It is possible to use a specific website for booking tickets in advance (www.wizzair.com).

In order to test the information, we tried to purchase tickets twice; both electronically and through the operator. The cheapest ticket cost EUR 30 for a departure at the beginning of May plus the EUR 10 service charge. During this period, the advance indication bag-check cost was EUR 20 and EUR 40 for non-advance indication. In June, in an attempt to re-purchase the ticket, we found out that there were changes in ticket prices due to the beginning of the higher fare summer season. The minimum ticket price increased from EUR 30 to EUR 40 (the price of the bag-check fees also increased).

While testing the online purchase of the ticket, the system showed that the purchase of the ticket for the mentioned price was possible at least a week ahead of the flight but the number of tickets available was not able to be determined.

Conclusion We can conclude that the statement made by MP Mariam Sajaia: “Today [from Kutaisi] to Warsaw, to the heart of Europe, any Georgian is able to fly for  EUR 40,” is TRUE.