Georgian Airways launches flight Tbilisi—St. Petersburg – Kommersant
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From December 10, the flagship of Georgian aviation Georgian Airways (“Georgian Airlines”) will start operating flights between Tbilisi and St. Petersburg. It is noteworthy that this was reported not by Georgian Airways itself or by the Civil Aviation Administration under the Department of Transport of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, but by Northern Capital Gateway LLC, the operator of St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport.
Flights from Pulkovo to Tbilisi will be operated twice a week – on Wednesdays and Sundays. Georgia and St. Petersburg are also connected by Red Wings airline, which flies to Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
Georgian Airways plans to operate flights using Boeing 737 aircraft, which are based in Tbilisi. On the airline’s website, a one-way economy class ticket to St. Petersburg on December 10 with 23 kg of luggage costs 781 lari ($289).
The caution of the authorities and the Georgian airline itself in dispensing information is explained by the fact that the launch of direct flights to the Russian Federation called negative reaction from the opposition and opposition-minded public. Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) party in a special statement accused the ruling Georgian Dream party and Georgian Airways founder Tamaz Gaiashvili of “undermining international efforts to put sanctions pressure on Moscow.”
On May 10, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled his own decree of June 21, 2019, banning air transportation from the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of Georgia. The ban was introduced after anti-Russian rallies in the capital of Georgia by activists and supporters of the UNM, who tried to storm the parliament building when deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation were there. Particular indignation in Moscow was caused by the fact that, commenting on the events on Rustaveli Avenue near the parliament, President Salome Zurabishvili called Russia an “enemy state.”
Zurabishvili has repeatedly criticized Tamaz Gaiashvili for flying to the Russian Federation. In response to criticism, Georgian Airways officially declared the head of state “persona non grata” on board the airline and refused to serve her in any form.
According to the Georgian constitution, real power in the country is not held by the president, but by the parliamentary majority and the prime minister. They encourage and welcome the development of ties with the Russian Federation in every possible way.
How the liner with Russians was expelled from the port of Batumi, read in the Kommersant article “An Arrival Case”.
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