Civil Aviation Agency: flights between Russia, Georgia to only involve non-sanctioned airlines

The Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia on Monday said flights between Georgia and Russia would only be carried out by airlines and aircraft not under the international sanctions placed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, following the Kremlin’s approval of a lifting of a ban on direct air connections with Georgia last week.

The body said applications submitted by Russian-based airlines for flights to Georgia would be “subject of detailed study and verification by various mechanisms in relation to sanctions”, and noted it was studying examples of countries that complied with the sanctions while also operating direct air traffic with the country.

In comments on the topic that caused a stir in the public since the Russian Government’s lifting of the ban it had imposed in 2019, the Agency also revealed it had received applications from “several airlines” for permissions for regular air traffic between the two states.

The United Airports of Georgia also released a statement today, reassuring the public that flights at all three international airports of Georgia - in the capital city of Tbilisi, the western city of Kutaisi and the Black Sea city of Batumi - would be operated only by airlines and aircraft not on the list of sanctioned entities.