Austrian Airlines launching Vienna-Tbilisi-Vienna flights from May

Austrian Airlines, the flag carrier airline of the country, will launch direct regular flights linking Vienna and Tbilisi from May, the United Airports of Georgia announced on Thursday.

The airline will carry passengers between Tbilisi International Airport in the Georgian capital and the Austrian capital city three times a week.

In his comments, Irakli Karkashadze, the Director of the airports body, said negotiations with the airline had been “successfully concluded” following the European Council’s decision to grant the country the European Union candidate status last week.

Karkashadze noted Austria was “one of the in-demand airline markets” both for tourist and business visits, and added Georgian airports had received 68,021 passengers from Vienna.

He also said Austrian Airlines would be the third airline connecting the capitals of the two countries after Georgian Airways and Wizz Air, with the airports body “constantly working” on diversification of domestic facilities and passenger segmentation.

In her comments for the event, Mariam Kvrivishvili, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, noted the development as “another success” of the country’s airline sector and added direct flights to Europe would “positively affect” tourism and airline industry and contribute to the development of the country’s economy.