“Kommersant”: “Russia, Georgia briefly resume air links”
Airzena Georgian Airways operated direct charter flights from Tbilisi to Moscow.
Late last week, Georgia’s national carrier, Airzena Georgian Airways, performed several charter flights from Tbilisi to Moscow and back. The flights were operated as a temporary resumption and not a full reopening of regular air traffic service between the two countries, which was halted in 2006. Georgian experts, meanwhile, view the move as “part of the Kremlin’s new game with the Georgian opposition.”
The flights were performed on January 8, 9, and 10, with Airzena Georgian Airways board chairman Tamaz Gaiashvili personally attending the first flight’s departure. “We are very glad to resume flights to Moscow,” Gaiashvili said optimistically. “So far, Georgians have had to use transit flights to travel to Russia and back, which is exhausting and more expensive. We hope for quick resumption of regular air service,” he emphasized.
The air carrier plans to operate at least three more flights to Russia. “We have information that the company has requested Moscow’s permit for flights on January 16, 20, and 24,” head of Georgian government’s air transport department, Georgy Bokuchava, told Kommersant.
The Tbilisi-Moscow-Tbilisi direct flights were initially planned for the end of 2009, with Airzena starting ticket sales. The number of those willing to travel on direct flights was considerable, given that passengers had been forced to make stopovers in other countries to reach Russia after regular traffic between the two countries was severed in 2006, shortly after Georgia arrested four Russian army officers on charges of espionage. In the spring of 2008, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili agreed with then-President Vladimir Putin to resume flights while on his visit to Moscow, but all direct air links were halted following the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 and the subsequent severance of diplomatic relations. It was not until a year ago that Russia permitted Airzena to perform several charter flights following a request by Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia.
The flights, however, were not performed until 2010, with the sides shifting responsibility for the breach of preliminary agreements. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed the Georgian side did not respond to letters and later demanded that they be sent to Tbilisi through the diplomatic channels in Switzerland and not by fax. Georgian Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure David Tkeshelashvili expressed his perplexity over the fact that “Moscow’s permission was not received until several hours prior to the flight, as if it was done on purpose for us to fail to settle organizational issues.” It was not until 2010 that all formalities were settled.
The New Year and Christmas flights to Russia are viewed by Georgia as the first step to full-scale resumption of regular air traffic with Russia. “Georgia did not cut off air links with Russia, so it is up to the Kremlin to take the initiative,” Georgy Bokuchava told Kommersant. Russian officials, however, challenged the Georgian side’s statement, with the Transport Ministry claiming that Georgia first has to repay debts to Russia’s navigation services owed by private companies that went bankrupt in the early 1990s.
Meanwhile, Georgian experts claim the move to briefly resume air links is only part of the Kremlin’s new game with the politicians of the Georgian opposition. “Following Vladimir Putin meeting with Georgia’s former Prime Minister, Zurab Noghaideli, the newly performed charter flights are presented by Russian top officials as their manifestation of goodwill to ordinary Georgian citizens,” independent political scientist David Avalishvili said. “At the same time,” he added, “Noghaideli’s ratings have been going up as one of the most radical opposition politicians. In the eyes of common citizens, Noghaideli has achieved progress in resolving an issue important for Georgians despite the fact he doesn’t have real political power. He managed to do this ‘using his personal rapport with Vladimir Putin,’ who apparently views Noghaideli as an alternative to Mikheil Saakashvili.”
By Georgy Dvali
