Kutaisi launches direct flights to Lithuania

Georgia is improving its ties with Europe thanks to the launch of a new flight service between Lithuania and Georgia.

Hungarian airline WizzAir added a new regular flight from Kutaisi, Georgia’s second largest city, to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

The first flight departed from Kutaisi International Airport this morning.

At a briefing today, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Dimitri Kumsishvili said the flights will depart twice a week. 

"Due to Kutaisi Airport being hastily opened in 2012, a lot of services were not provided here but they will be added in time,” Kumsishvili said, noting Kutaisi was planned to be connected to many other destinations in the future.

Since it opened on September 27, 2012, Kutaisi International Airport has transported more than 226 000 passengers. Of this, the Hungarian airline were responsible for transporting almost 200 000 passengers.

WizzAir is one of the largest low-cost airlines in Central and Eastern Europe. This summer, the company aimed to generate a 100 percent increase in the number of passengers it transported.

The company’s latest annual figures revealed a 1,000 percent increase in flights from Kutaisi to Europe.