Russia’s leading airlines will reportedly help Russian tourists travel to Georgia via neighboring Armenia after all passenger flights between Russia and Georgia are suspended next month.
According to the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee, they are planning to launch additional flights to and from Armenia for that purpose.
President Vladimir Putin last week temporarily banned Russian airlines from flying to Georgia following an outbreak of unrest in Tbilisi triggered by the visit of a Russian lawmaker. The Russian Transport Ministry imposed at the weekend a similar ban on Georgian airlines carrying out flights to Moscow and other Russian cities.
The punitive measures, effective from July 8, will hit the Georgian tourism industry. More than one million Russian tourists visited Georgia last year.
Senior officials from the Civil Aviation Committee met with Russian airline executives in Yerevan to discuss the situation on Wednesday. A statement by the Armenian government agency said a representative of Aeroflot reported at the meeting that the Russian flagship carrier will increase the frequency of its daily flights between Moscow and Yerevan.
Two other carriers, Ural Airlines and S7 Airlines, also announced such plans, according to the statement. Ural was reported to be considering transporting its passengers from Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport to Tbilisi and Batumi by bus.
Ural also flies to Yerevan from Saint Petersburg. It is planning to launch next month regular flights to Gyumri as well, said the Civil Aviation Committee.
A budget airline, Pobeda, has until now been the sole Russian carrier flying to Armenia’s second largest city. According to the committee statement, a Pobeda representative said at the meeting that the company wants to enable Russian tourists to proceed to Georgia from Gyumri by rail and will negotiate with Armenia’s Russian-managed railway network for that purpose.
Senior executives of a Yerevan-based airline, Armenia Air Company, also attended the meeting. They announced that starting from July 8 the company will fly to Tbilisi and Moscow twice a day.
The Armenpress news agency quoted Armenia’s deputy director, Gevorg Khachatrian, as saying that the Yerevan-Tbilisi flights will be carried out jointly with its sister airline, Georgian Airways. The Georgian carrier’s founder, Tamaz Gaiashvili, holds a major stake in Armenia Air Company.
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