Georgian Airways to launch transit flights for Russians to Europe

Georgian Airways will launch transit flights via Tbilisi to Europe for Russians from June 15. About it declared the founder of the Georgian airline Tamaz Gaiashvili in an interview with RTVI.

“We think that there will be sufficient demand for these [транзитных] routes. It will be more convenient and faster through Tbilisi than in other directions,” Gaiashvili said. He noted that the company plans to maintain air communication with the Russian Federation and, according to the carrier’s forecasts, the passenger flow between Russia and Georgia will gradually recover.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the resumption of air traffic with Georgia, which was terminated in the summer of 2019. In addition, by a separate decree, on May 15, he canceled the visa regime for Georgian citizens.

After that, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called the decision of the Russian authorities a provocation and unacceptable against the backdrop of the continuation of the military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, the government supported the decision of the Russian authorities. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that anything that makes “life, movement and business easier for our citizens is positive and welcome.”

Georgian Airways was one of the first airlines to express a desire to resume flights to Moscow. On May 20, the carrier operated the first direct flight from Tbilisi to the Russian capital after the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Georgia.

On the same day, Zurabishvili statedthat she would not use the services of Georgian Airways, and called on Georgian citizens to join the boycott. In her opinion, the carrier is only interested in profit and now he wants to take advantage of the “new reality, which is unacceptable for a very large part of the population” of Georgia. In response to this, the company announcedthat they will not let the Georgian president on their planes.