The Dutch low-cost airline Transavia has started operating direct flights between Amsterdam and Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi from April, the United Airports of Georgia announced on Sunday.
TAV Georgia, the company operating Tbilisi and Batumi airports, said the company’s first flight from the Netherlands had brought 187 passengers to Georgia’s capital and 185 departed to Amsterdam.
During the summer navigation season, Transavia will operate flights twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday, with the aircraft Boeing 737-8, the company added.
An official event marking the first flight was held at Tbilisi International Airport, which was attended by Tea Zakaradze, the General Manager of Tbilisi and Batumi International Airports, the Dutch Ambassador to Georgia Meline Arakelian, and CEO of Transavia Marcel de Nooijer, as well as the representatives of the Georgian aviation authorities.
UAG cited its Director Irakli Karkashadze as saying that launching direct flights to Amsterdam was the result of the “long-lasting negotiation process”. All tickets on the first flights were sold out, which indicates a “very high demand” for the flight, he noted.
Transavia is the second-largest airline in the Netherlands and has been operating from the country to more than 100 destinations in more than 20 countries for 50 years, carrying nine million passengers annually.