Starting June 2, the Russian airline Red Wings will start operating Sochi-Tbilisi-Sochi and Moscow-Kutaisi-Moscow air routes. Georgian Civil Aviation Agency granted the appropriate permission to the airline on May 18. The agency claims that Red Wings is not on the EU blacklist.
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Sochi-Tbilisi-Sochi and Moscow-Kutaisi-Moscow flights will be conducted three times a week - every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Red Wings Airlines has been sanctioned by Ukraine since 2021. In August 2022, Reuters reported that the US Department of Commerce enlisted the Airbus aircraft operated by the Red Wings on the list of violators of sanctions imposed against Russia following the start of the war in Ukraine.
Red Wings operates from Russia to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Israel, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. According to the information published on the company website, the airline fleet consists mainly of modern Russian aircraft - Sukhoi SuperJet (SSJ 100). The airline operates 19 of these models along with 14 Airbus and 3 Boeing.
Apart from Red Wings, Georgian Airways and the Russian's Azimuth (Azimuth Airlines) were also given permission to fly between Russia and Georgia. Azimuth made its first Moscow-Tbilisi flight today, on May 19.
Direct air travel between Georgia and Russia has been suspended since July 8, 2019. On June 21 of the same year, following mass protests sparked by the Tbilisi visit of the Communist Deputy of the Russia Duma, Sergey Gavrilov, Vladimir Putin banned all Russian airlines from flying to Georgia.
On May 10, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree ordering the renewal of flights, which had been suspended four years prior. On top of renewed flights, a visa policy in effect since 2000 has been canceled and Georgian citizens will be able to enter Russian territory without a visa from May 15.
The European Commission urges Georgia, aspiring to become an EU candidate state, to align with the EU in its sanctions against Russia, including in the aviation sector, and be alert to any possible attempts to circumvent them. EU representative, Peter Sano, pointed out that EU member states do not permit flights to, from, or above Russia.
The United States issued a warning regarding sanctions. Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesman for the State Department, said companies at Georgia airports could be at risk of sanctions if they service aircraft subject to import and export controls.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, applauded the restoration of direct air travel and stressed that only non-sanctioned aircraft will conduct the flights.
