Waynakh Air

 

Waynakh Air is the flag carrier of Waynakhia. Its headquarters are located in the CBD of Solzha-Gala, near Solzha-Gala International Airport.

Waynakh Air is the largest Waynakhia-based air carrier, both by fleet size and passengers carried annually, as well as generating the highest revenues of any Waynakhia-based air carrier and the third-highest in the Caucasus, behind Armenian Airways and Georgian Airways. The airline was founded in 1994, as part of a Waynakh government scheme to restore international transport connections between the country and the rest of the world, forming from the merger of two smaller air companies that had operated previously. The airline has remained almost entirely owned by the state throughout its history.

History

Waynakh Air traces its origins to 1994, when the Waynakh government, together with that of Anatolia and several other European states, initiated a plan to rebuild and expand the country's land, air and sea connections with neighbours in the region following the Caucasus Wars of the previous decade. Prior to the conflicts, two small airlines had operated in the country; the two companies were merged at the end of 1994 to establish the new national carrier. All but two of the country's passenger aircraft fleet had been damaged or destroyed in the conflicts, with the two aircraft becoming part of Waynakh Air following the merger, though their livery was not updated to reflect the change until 1997. In the initial years, Waynakh Air's list of destinations was relatively limited, flying only to Istanbul, Tbilisi and Yerevan.

Following the 1990s and early 2000s reconstruction of Solzha-Gala International Airport, as well as the revival of Waynakhia's kerosene and jet fuel industry, the airline increased its list of destinations as well as its aircraft fleet; the Waynakh government also invested further into the kerosene industry, turning the airport into a refuelling hub for aircraft across the region, and gradually expanding its list of destinations and partners throughout the decade. In 2002, it opened a direct route between Solzha-Gala and Heathrow Airport, London.

In 1999, the airline broke even and began to enter profit; in 2000, it purchased 1% stakes in a handful of successful international airlines, boosting its profits considerably in the following years. In the early 2010s, with the airline earning increasing yearly profits almost consistently across the previous decade, Waynakh Air announced the establishment of new routes connecting to numerous airports in the Middle East, particularly to Mecca and Dubai, as well as expanding to more European airports.

In 2015, following the global financial crash, Waynakh Air began to suffer a significant fall in profits, leading it to cut some of its less popular routes, describing them as "not economically viable any more". Despite the Waynakh oil and kerosene industres, and the airline's shares in other air carriers, preventing the airline from collapsing, the move was later credited for increasing the airline's efficiency and preventing further financial losses, as well as allowing it to recover more quickly from the crisis, with some of the closed routes later reopening, as well as new ones being established.

In 2020, following the collapse in air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline set out plans to cut back on up to 20% of jobs, as well as reducing its list of destinations and available flight services; the situation was worsened by Waynakhia's zero-COVID policy at the time, with only neighbouring Dagestan following the same policy. The governments of Waynakhia and Dagestan reached agreements to operate a free travel area during periods of no community transmission; Waynakh Air and Air Dagestan attempted to operate small international flights between the two countries, but the strategy was later deemed as unsustainable due to the nature of the elimination strategies used in the two countries. Waynakh Air began to reopen international routes from January 2022, in line with the Waynakh government's reopening of the country to the rest of the world. During the pandemic, the airline entered talks with both the Waynakh and Australian governments on the possibility of opening a direct route between Solzha-Gala and Perth after the normalisation of the global health situation, highlighting Waynakhia's membership of the European Community as a key strength to enable citizens of many European countries to fly directly from within the EC to Australia. This would be one of the longest passenger air routes in the world; however, as of September 2024, no further updates had been released on the talks.

Destinations

Waynakh Air serves over 40 destinations across the Caucasus, Europe and the Middle East, including Waynakhia's three largest airports.

Fleet

As of January 2024, Waynakh Air has a fleet size of 25 aircraft. While most aircraft are fuelled domestically with Waynakh-produced kerosene fuels, servicing and maintenance is relatively limited, with more advanced maintenance occurring regularly at several Georgian and Anatolian airports. Since 2022, the airline has discussed investing in the creation and advancement of maintenance services both domestically in Waynakhia and also in Dagestan, in line with the neighbouring country's growing investment into the industrial economy.