Georgia will not allow sanctioned airlines to operate direct flights

Russian airlines and planes subject to sanctions will not be able to fly to Georgia if direct flights between the countries are restored. So far, there have been no requests from the Russian side to resume it, said Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of the Republic Mariam Kvrivishvili.

“We clearly fix our position that not a single airline that fell under sanctions will operate in Georgia … At this stage, Georgia has not issued any permission, since it has not yet received notification from either the airlines or the state,” leads her words to RIA Novosti.

The official also welcomed Russia’s decision to introduce a visa-free regime for Georgian citizens.

The ban on the flights of Russian airlines and the implementation of tours to Georgia by Russian tour operators was in effect from June 21, 2019 and was canceled Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin today, May 10. The reason for the ban was the protests outside the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi against the backdrop of a visit to the country by State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov, who took the chair of parliament speaker during the International Assembly of Orthodoxy. Gavrilov claimed that he was invited to take this place.

After the published presidential decrees, one of which resumes communication between the countries, and the second cancels the visa regime for Georgian citizens from May 15, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported that the first flights to Georgia could be launched by the end of this month. In the Ministry of Transport told Vedomosti that Russian airlines will start flying between Moscow and Tbilisi seven times a week.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, canceled the recommendation for Russians to refrain from traveling to the country.