Georgian Airways plans to operate up to 60 flights to the EU per week from 2024 – Kommersant

The flagship of Georgian aviation, Georgian Airways, will operate up to 60 flights per week to major European cities from 2024. This is stated in statement founder and director of Georgian Airways Tamaz Gaiashvili.

The statement emphasizes that since Georgia will soon become an official candidate for EU membership, “the airline has made a strategically important decision to maximize the number of flights to all European capitals.”

Georgian Airways plans to fly to European capitals three times a week. For this purpose, the company leased several Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) party previously accused Tamaz Gaiashvili of “violating European sanctions” because, according to the UNM, “the number of flights is increasing in order to allow Russian citizens to take advantage of connecting flights to the EU.” But Mr. Gaiashvili replied that Russians with a Schengen visa have long been using connecting flights through Yerevan and Istanbul, so additional flights from Georgia are unlikely to seriously affect the situation.

However, it is obvious that direct flights from Tbilisi to European cities will indeed be convenient for tens of thousands of Russian citizens who have moved to Georgia since 2022, after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine. In any case, for those of them who were able or will be able to obtain a Schengen visa.

Georgiy Dvali, Tbilisi