A fourth transit hub is being created in Tbilisi for Russian citizens to fly to Europe. Vitaly Vantsev, co-owner of Moscow Vnukovo International Airport and Azimuth airline, spoke to Russian media about this.
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“Our partners from Georgian Airways are providing good offers for Russian passengers in terms of transit, open flights to Europe — to Paris, Nice, and Rome, where direct flights are now closed.
Ultimately, Russian citizens will have a fourth good transit hub in Tbilisi after Istanbul, Yerevan, and Baku. We and Georgian Airways are trying to organize it [the hub] in a way that will be as comfortable as possible for our passengers, so the layover takes like hour-and-a-half, not too long,’’ said Vantsev.
Russian airline Azimuth and Georgia's Georgian Airways have been flying between Moscow and Tbilisi since the end of May. At first, the airlines operated one flight a day, but since July 5, Azimuth flies twice a day, and since July 6, Georgian Airways has added four new flights per week. In addition, Georgian Airways also started transit flights from Moscow to Nice via Tbilisi.
Georgia's international partners view the resumption of direct flights between Russia and Georgia with concern. In an interview with Georgian News, the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, stated that direct flights give Russian citizens a backdoor access to Europe, as Europe has closed its airspace for Russian citizens.
“Direct flights provide them backdoor access to Europe. Again, it is important for Russian citizens to understand that they are being isolated because their government has chosen to start a war. So, providing direct flights to Tbilisi, which will then allow them to go to France or Germany, makes Russian citizens think that everything is normal. It’s not normal, it’s their government that disrupted the peace and stability that we have all done so much to build over the last 75 years,” stated Degnan.
Georgian Airways and its president, Tamaz Gaiashvili, have been sanctioned by the government of Ukraine for resuming direct flights with Russia.
