Russia restricts Georgian Airways’ Moscow flights

Russia has restricted the flights of Georgian Airways to Moscow on the pretext that Georgia does not allow Russia’s Ural Airways to operate in Georgia.

The restriction was confirmed both by Georgian Airways and Russia’s relevant bodies.

Georgian Airways, also known as Airzena, says the restriction can cause serious financial damage to them.

“The Ministry of Transport of Russia hopes that the issue related to the restrictions on the Georgian Airways flights to Moscow, will be resolved within the next week,” Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told TASS.

"The situation will be resolved in a positive way. I hope that in the near future all the issues will be solved together with our Georgian colleagues and they will fulfil the obligations that are currently envisaged by the air communication agreement, and we will therefore take any necessary measures from our side," Sokolov said.

Georgian Airways announced that Russia had cancelled four Tbilisi-Moscow flights. Russia’s Transport Ministry confirmed this information.

“This restriction has been implemented due to the fact that Georgia has not allowed Ural Airlines to conduct four flights a week from the Zhukovsk airport,” the Ministry reported, adding that Georgia must meet its obligations.

Russian companies conduct about 60 flights to Georgia weekly, while Georgian companies conduct about 20 weekly flights to the Russian Federation. This distorts the parity envisaged by the agreement between the two countries.

This raises a question of reliability of Moscow as a partner.

For past decades, Russia has many times demonstrated that they use all their economic levers as a weapon when it is needed to promote their political interests.

Georgia must avoid dependence and reliance on Russia in any economic direction.