Georgian President announces boycott of Georgian Airways over flights to Russia

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili announced that she would not use the services of the Georgian airline Georgian Airways. Today, the carrier performed the first flight from Tbilisi to Moscow after the resumption of air traffic between Georgia and the Russian Federation.

“I am declaring a boycott of Airzene for myself. [Georgian Airways] and I urge you to join it. This is a company that uses the state to get rich. This was the case under the previous governments. This has been going on during covid and now she wants to take advantage of a new reality that is unacceptable to most of our population.” said Zurabishvili at a briefing (TASS quote).

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, from May 15, he canceled the visa regime for Georgian citizens.

After that, 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 anything that makes “life, movement and business easier for our citizens is positive and welcome.”

On May 19, the first commercial plane in four years left Moscow for Tbilisi. The flight was operated by the Russian airline Azimuth, which on May 15 received permission from the Georgian authorities to operate flights to the republic. Today, May 20, to Moscow from the Georgian capital flew out board of Georgian Airways.

Georgia has also issued permission to the Russian airline Red Wings to operate flights from early June to Tbilisi and Kutaisi from Moscow and Sochi. Charter flights on both routes will begin on June 2 and will operate three times a week: on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.