Transaero Airlines (Moscow Vnukovo) has yet to secure traffic rights for Tbilisi from Georgian authorities despite selling tickets for the service routed out of Moscow Sheremetyevo. The Russian carrier began advertising the 4x weekly service earlier this month with a December 21 launch on the cards.
However, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA) last week told Central Asian Aero News that while the carrier had applied for traffic rights, it had yet to receive them.
Russia and Georgia only recently restored bilateral air traffic rights following a 6 year hiatus. The two countries broke off direct scheduled air links in the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War.
Among Russia's designated carriers for services to Georgia are: Aeroflot, Globus, S7 Airlines, VIM Airlines, Transaero, Ural Airlines, and UTair. Georgia is believed to have received applications from Georgian Airways and LCC start-up, flyvista, for its own services to Russia.
