Georgia-Russia flights to resume after deadlock broken

Georgia has reached an agreement with Russia on restoring bilateral air links unilaterally suspended by the Kremlin in the wake of a political spat with Tbilisi in October 2006.

It follows a recent summit meeting between the presidents of the two countries in Moscow. Under the agreement, air services will resume on March 28 on a parity basis with each side entitled to 10 scheduled flights a week.

By March 10, Georgia should pay $2 million in overdue fees to the Russian aeronautical service. Almost half of debts owed to it have been already paid.

Georgia’s aviation authority says it will recover debts run up by defunct operators from domestic airlines keen to re-enter the Russian air market and will apply more stringent requirements to such applicants henceforth.