Georgian Deputy Economy Minister, Deputy Head of Mission of UK Embassy discuss possibility of starting district flights

The possibility of starting direct flights with the United Kingdom was discussed on Friday in a working meeting between Mariam Kvrivishvili, Georgian Deputy Economy Minister, and Clare Allbless, the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Tbilisi, the Economy Ministry said.

Kvrivishvili said the Georgian Government had been conducting “active negotiations” with British airlines to start direct flights between the two countries, and noted the country’s airline market was characterised by growing dynamics with passenger flow increasing yearly.

She also said the number of flights and destinations were “on record-high”, which had a “positive impact” on the statistics of international travellers in the country, as well as on the income mobilised from the tourism sector, which according to the data in the first quarter of the year were on “record figure” more than $800 million.

Britain is an important aviation and tourism market for us. We are sure that the start of direct flights will give a significant boost to the growth of tourist flows in Georgia”, Kvrivishvili said.

In parallel with the negotiations with the airlines, we are studying the British market in order to implement active marketing campaigns to promote the tourist attractions of Georgia”, she added.

Kvrivishvili expressed hope the ongoing negotiations for the start of direct flights would end “positively”, which would contribute to the deepening of relations between the two countries, with the meeting also featuring Irakli Karkashadze, the Director of the United Airports of Georgia.