On the website of Georgian Airways, tickets from Tbilisi to Moscow are on sale. The airline will start flying on May 20, which is the date of the next available flight. The cost of an economy class ticket is 897 lari (about 28 thousand rubles).
Georgian Airways is the flag carrier of Georgia, based at the capital airport of Tbilisi.
On May 15, the Russian airline Azimut received permission from the Georgian authorities to fly to this country from May 17. The head of the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia, Givi Davitashvili, said that applications from five airlines are currently being considered for the right to operate flights between Georgia and Russia. One of them is Georgian Airways, the rest are Russian.
On May 10, Vladimir Putin signed two decrees, one of which canceled the visa regime for citizens of Georgia, and the second allowed the resumption of direct flights with this country, which was terminated in 2019. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called these decisions a "provocation" and demanded the introduction of visas for Russians. The country's government, however, supported the idea of resuming flights with Russia.
The US State Department, in turn, threatened to impose sanctions against Georgia if Georgian airlines begin to service Russian sanctioned aircraft.