Georgian airline launches transit flights to Europe via Tbilisi for Russians

This was announced by the founder of the airline Tamaz Gaiashvili, RTVI reports.

According to him, flights to five European cities are planned - Milan, Paris, Vienna, Larnaca, Thessaloniki.

"We will start on 15 June. We'll see how it goes. But we think there will be sufficient demand for these routes. It will be more convenient and faster to go through Tbilisi than other destinations," Gaiashvili said.

He added that Georgian Airways expects passenger traffic between Russia and Georgia to gradually recover.

"Naturally, we will maintain air traffic with Russia. There will be no changes to this. The Georgian government has welcomed this decision very warmly. God willing, it will never be interrupted again," he said.

The ban on Russian airlines' flights to Georgia had been in place since 2019. It was lifted on 15 May 2023. On the same day, Russia cancelled the visa regime for Georgian citizens.

These events sparked opposition protests in Tbilisi, and Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili announced a boycott of Georgian Airways over the resumption of flights to Moscow.

• On 11 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree cancelling the visa regime for Georgian citizens from 15 May, 2023. Air travel between the two countries was also set to resume. The EU called on Georgia to prevent Russian planes from entering its territory.

• On 15 May, Georgia allowed the first Russian airline, Azimut, to operate flights to the country. The next day, Georgian Airways received permission to operate regular flights to Moscow. Later, another Russian airline, Red Wings, was granted permission.

• On 20 May, it became known that Georgian President Salomé Zurabishvili announced a boycott of Georgian Airways, which had started operating direct flights to Moscow. The airline, in turn, declared Zurabishvili persona non grata on its aircraft.