MYWAY OPERATES “UNTIL COURT”
Many believe that the problems of the Georgian airline MYWAY began with the attack on Khartoum airport (Sudan) in April 2023. Among the other 20 aircraft that burned down at that time was an aircraft that belonged to MYWAY. However, in fact, the company’s non-payments began long before this terrible incident. From which, by the way, the company was able to fully recover.
In fact, the company began periodically delaying payments, going deeper and deeper into debt, a year earlier. And this has nothing to do with finances.
At some point, the Georgian authorities found out that the co-owner of the company, Andy Liu, had violated Georgian legislation regarding the beneficial ownership of shares. Irregularities were identified in the distribution of shares. On this basis, the Georgian CAA revoked the airline’s license.
However, MYWAY protested the CAA’s decision in court and requested that until the final decision, the court suspend the State Aviation Service’s decision to revoke the Operational License and allow the airline to operate. Which is what was done.
There is still no final court decision, and if you go to the website of the CAA of Georgia, you can see that MYWAY’s license has been cancelled, but the cancellation is suspended until the court’s decision.
In fact, the fate of the airline remains in limbo all this time. Which gives rise to certain assumptions about some kind of “deal”. On the one hand, the company is not completely closed, on the other - the owner of MYWAY Andy Liu understands perfectly well that this can happen at any time.
It is the understanding of the fact that everything can end in one day makes Andy Liu do not want to pay those on whom his airline’s flights do not depend “right here and now.” If company is closing anyway, why he needs to pay?!
In April 2023, I had a conversation with Andi Liu; we were talking via messenger. Andy promised to pay off the debt as soon as MAYWAY resumes flights. “I want to highlight that I never refused or rejected the payment. But unfortunately based on the bad influence in the market, I can’t do anything to persuade the company to pay,” Andy complained then.
However, after a couple of months, MYWAY began to operate very actively. China, Hong Kong, India, Israel. Judging by some flights (in particular to the Egyptian military base near the Gaza Strip), the airline also carries out UN contracts. The truth is how a company with a partially revoked operating license was allowed to fulfill a UN contract remains a mystery.
As for Andy, having started operating actively, he forgot about all his promises and began to ignore all attempts to contact him. However, later, after BLACKLIST.AERO began paralegal actions against MYWAY, he got in touch only to threaten us with legal action. When this did not work, he fell off the radar again.
The proof that MAYWAY’s non-payments are not just a consequence of “external circumstances”, but a completely intentional act, is the fact that two years ago the company’s management blackmailed their counterparties, who did not want to increase credit limits for MYWAY, with subsequent non-payments.
“If you stop servicing us on credit, do not expect payments for already completed flights!” - this is exactly the form in which top management communicated with handling and fuel suppliers.
Currently, the company is experiencing increasing difficulties with refueling and ground handling of its flights. In particular, after the administration of the BLACKLIST.AERO registry contacted one large fuel reseller company, MAYWAY had a “intense” refueling at Brindisi (Italy). The management of the fuel company, having studied the materials provided by BLACKLSIT.AERO, as well as having received confirmation of this information from other sources, refused to refuel MAYWAY flights in the future, regardless from which of agents refueling request is received.
With all the professional solidarity that the administration and Operations team of the BLACKLIST.AERO registry feel from an increasing number of participants in the aviation market, the official negligence of the Georgian CAA looks especially cynical.
In particular, having sent an official letter to the director of the Georgian CAA Givi Davitashvili with a request to verify the information provided about the non-payment of MAYWAY, we received an official response from him in which he assures us that CAA does not have the right to “interfere in commercial disputes.”
Givi Davitashvili sent exactly the same response to the Lebanese CAA when they asked for the position of their Georgian colleagues regarding the debt of the MYWAY airline. However, this position is as toothless as it is deceitful.
In particular, Order No. 98 of June 16, 2017 “On approval of the Procedure for issuing an air transportation certificate” provides that the CAA can take measures against an air carrier that has debts. And it doesn’t say at all that this applies only to some individual debts. There is a debt - be prepared for a CAA audit and possible license revocation!
Nevertheless, the inactivity of the Georgian CAA may have completely definite grounds, if we do not dismiss the version of a certain “deal”. According to which the fate of the airline is constantly hanging in the balance, but the trial that should finally decide it still does not take place.
In connection with the appearance in the BLACKLIST.AERO Register of a case regarding another Georgian company GEORGIAN AIRLINES, our editorial staff had to understand even more in the wilds of Georgian aviation “politics”. Now we know much more than I can share with readers today. We know which Georgian aviation officials own shares in airlines and other entities in the Georgian aviation market. Who is trying to “eat” whom and how, driven by greed and the opportunity to abuse their official status.
However, we will present all these facts gradually. Believe me, the situation with GEORGIAN AIRLINES' debt is even more egregious and it is also worth talking about in more detail.
In the meantime, the administration of the BLACKLIST.AERO Registry asks all participants in the aviation market DO NOT COOPERATE with MAYWAY (GEORGIA) airline until it pays off its debts.
P.S. If you don't care about the principle of professional solidarity, then at least think about the fact that MYWAY can cease operations within one single day. And then you will queue up to submit a case for it to BLACKLIST.AERO. But it will be too late...
Artem Degtiarov, Chief editor at BLACKLIST.AERO
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