Georgia and Saudi Arabia sign agreement on air traffic

Georgia and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on air traffic, announces the Ministry of Economy of Georgia.

The agreement was signed on April 1 in Saudi Arabia during the official visit of Deputy Economy Minister Akaki Saghirashvili, who also participated in the Global Aviation Summit following the invitation by the Transport Minister of Saudi Arabia.

Saghirashvili explained that the air traffic agreement provides ground for legislative framework for launching direct regular flights between the two countries.

It will also facilitate strengthening of the trade and economic relations and development of the tourism.

The Agreement is based on a liberal, “open sky” principle which allows air companies to independently define the capacities and the frequency of the flights as well as the destinations,” Saghirashvili said.

Saghirashvili also delivered speech at the first panel of the Global Aviation Summit and overviewed Georgia’s civil aviation sector, the reforms and the results achieved. He said that the transport sector, including the civil aviation, is one of the priority sectors of the economic development and the aviation sector is one of the largest employers in the country.

Deputy Economy Minister Akaki Saghirashvili delivering a speech at the first panel of the Global Aviation Summit. Photo: Ministry of Economy of Georgia.

In addition, Saghirashvili also noted that Georgia is pursuing a liberal political course in civilian aviation. He said that as a result new airline companies enter Georgian market and passenger inflow at the Georgian airports also increases.

He stated that Georgia is actively working on introduction of regulations and directives stipulated by the agreement between Georgia and EU and its member states on Single Air Space, which also means the fulfillment undertaken under the Georgia-EU Association Agreement in the civil aviation direction.

Saghirashvili emphasised the results of the last comprehensive audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in terms of aviation safety and security.

Georgia is on the 30th position in the world in terms of implementation and supervision of the international aviation standards, on the tenth position in Europe, and on the first position in the region according to security audit data. As for the aviation security index, the introduction of the relevant standards and practices, this indicator reached 89.8%, which is an improvement by 58% compared to the audit data from 2008,” Saghirashvili noted.

The Georgian delegation will complete its visit to Saudi Arabia on April 3.