Georgian Civil Aviation Agency rejects reports on restoration of flights with Russia
The comments followed a report by Mtavari Arkhi that said local airline Georgian Airways was planning to launch direct flights between the Georgian and the Russian capitals starting on April 18. Photo: Georgian Airways
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The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency on Friday rejected media reports on restoration of direct flights with Russia, saying the “status quo of the mentioned situation has not changed”.
The comments followed a report by Mtavari Arkhi that said local airline Georgian Airways was planning to launch direct flights between the Georgian and the Russian capitals starting on April 18.
In response, the Agency said Russian authorities had not applied for restoring regular air traffic, terminated between the countries in 2019.
In its statement the body noted while it could not comment on the matter on behalf of Georgian Airways, it could confirm no plans were in place to restore direct flights between Tbilisi and Moscow.
Georgian Airways also does not confirm information on carrying out flights to Moscow, stating that "similar false, unconfirmed information has been spread many times before".
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said that in order for relations between Georgia and Russia to be normalised Russia must lift restrictions on flights to Georgia.
Flights between Georgia and Russia have been banned starting today following the recent decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ban on flights was announced after protesters in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi tried to storm the Georgian parliament on June 20 when a Russian MP addressed a forum of politicians at the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy from the speaker’s chair.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered a ban on flights to Georgia as part of Russian state reaction to protest in Tbilisi following a Duma MP's appearance in the Tbilisi parliament.
Regular flights between Georgia and Russia are one step closer to reality.
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