Georgia’s aviation authority issues flight permit for Russia's Azimuth airline
One-way tickets for the connection will range between 23,373-63,973 roubles ($293.59-803.57). Photo: Azimuth Airlines
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The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency on Monday issued a permit for the Russian airline Azimuth to operate daily flights between Russia and Georgia starting on Friday, following last week’s controversial lifting of air connections between the countries by the Kremlin.
The Agency said the company was being allowed to carry passengers to Georgia as it was not under the international sanctions placed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
It said Azimuth was neither on the European Union’s blacklist of sanctioned companies nor the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list of the United States or “any other sanctions lists administered by the [US Office of Foreign Assets Control]”.
One-way tickets for the connection will range between 23,373-63,973 roubles ($293.59-803.57).
The granting of the permit to the airline comes as Azimuth removed the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) from the list of countries on its website, Echo Kavkaza news website has reported. The two regions had been listed as countries in selections for users registering on the page.
The Georgian body’s issuance of the permit also comes after it 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.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili also said the country’s authorities were following the “strictest” examples of countries operating flights with Russia while observing international sanctions placed on the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Government last week said it was removing the ban it had placed in 2019 on direct flights with Georgia following anti-Kremlin protests in Tbilisi in 2019, on the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing occupation of Georgian territories.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Monday said the country’s authorities were following the “strictest” examples of countries operating flights with Russia while observing international sanctions placed on the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine.
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.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Human Rights Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday said Georgia “has no intention” of cooperating with Russian airline companies sanctioned by the international community for its invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday maintained no flights involving aircraft under international sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would be allowed in Georgia, following the Russian Government’s decision on Wednesday to lift its ban on flights with Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday pledged “not a single" airline or aircraft sanctioned for Russia's invasion of Ukraine would be allowed to operate in Georgia following the resumption of direct flights between the countries this week.
Georgian Police have arrested six individuals protesting the landing of the first jet of a Russian airline at Tbilisi International Airport on Friday since the Kremlin’s move last week to resume direct flights and lift visa restrictions with Georgia.
Irakli Karkashadze, the Director of the United Airports of Georgia, on Saturday said “none of" Russia's airlines or aircraft, sanctioned for its invasion of Ukraine, would be served at Georgian airports after the resumption of direct flights between the countries this week.
Georgian Police arrested 16 individuals for administrative offences during a protest outside Kvareli Lake Resort in Georgia's east, the local media outlet Interpressnews said on Saturday.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Saturday said the wedding of Russian citizens would not take place in Georgia, noting the family had already left the country.
The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency on Thursday said it would study the latest sanctions imposed on the Belarus national carrier Belavia before making an “appropriate response” on permissions for the airline to operate in Georgia.