US Ambassador, Georgian top officials welcome CAMEX Airlines moves to launch transcontinental routes
The US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan and top Georgian officials welcomed on Monday the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency completing the certification process of local CAMEX Airlines, allowing the airline to start operating in the world market of cargo air transportation in the near future.
The company is expected to make its first commercial flight in the second half of August of this year.
At an event in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, dedicated to the receiving of the Air Operator Certificate (AOC), Ambassador Degnan stressed that the airline “symbolised” Georgia’s Western aspirations.
“When the world is looking for alternative routes and supply chains, investments in Georgian companies like CAMEX Airlines are especially crucial. Through US Government assistance and American investment, CAMEX Airlines is leasing Boeing 737 aircraft and is set to become the first Georgian air logistics company operating transcontinental routes,” Degnan said, noting “while this plane flies physically West, it also symbolises Georgia’s Western aspirations of Euro-Atlantic integration”.
Georgian Vice-PM and the Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili suggested that “it is a very important day for Georgian aviation”, adding that “we are witnessing the beginning of a very successful initiative, a successful project, and I would like to thank the US for its close cooperation”.
Davitashvili said that the project kicked off during the pandemic, when many companies were in crisis and refrained from launching something new.
“However, thanks to the situation in the domestic economy and the US support, Georgia will have a modern air cargo carrier. I can safely say that this is a Georgian-American product, as in terms of funding, there is the American Finance Corporation as a partner, while the Gazelle Finance Corporation is also represented, which successfully finances small and medium-sized businesses”, said the Vice PM. CAMEX has more than 15 years of experience in international freight forwarding, warehousing and handling.
Over years the company has ensured international shipping from the United States, Germany, Turkey and England to Georgia.
