According to the publication, Azimut and Georgian Airways have already notified Tbilisi airport about flights from Russia. According to RBC’s source, Azimut plans to fly to Tbilisi six times a week from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.

To resume flights, RBC writes, Azimuth is preparing on May 16, and Georgian Airways on May 18. “Maybe not the 18th [мая], but a little later. I hope we will start flying in the next ten days, ” - Tamaz Gaiashvili, president of the Georgian Airlines Group, told RBC.

The flights will be carried out on Superjet aircraft (they are operated by Azimut), since they belong to Russian leasing companies and are not subject to sanctions prohibiting service at foreign airports, one of RBC’s sources emphasized. Another Russian carrier, Red Wings, has the same aircraft in its fleet. He has already requested permission for flights to Georgia.

The president of the Georgian Airlines Group, which owns Georgian Airways, Tamaz Gaiashvili, stated that it still remains to complete the “final formalities” for the resumption of direct flights to Russia. He is confident that this will happen within the next few days.

On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on the resumption of air traffic with Georgia, interrupted in 2019 at the initiative of the Russian side, as well as the abolition of the visa regime for Georgian citizens.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said that this is unacceptable “as long as Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine” and occupies Georgian territory. Georgia is a parliamentary republic and the powers of the president are limited in it.

The Ministry of Economy of Georgia, in turn, reported that they were ready to allow direct flights of Russian airlines and aircraft that did not fall under sanctions.