Direct Russia-Georgia air flights stopped

Today, the last plane from Tbilisi landed in Moscow, after which direct Russia-Georgia flights have stopped. The Russian authorities have estimated the airlines' losses at 3 billion roubles.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that with the start of riots in Tbilisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Russian airlines, as from July 8, to transport passengers to Georgia. The Ministry of Transports also imposed a ban from the same date on flights of Georgian airlines to Russia. On July 5, the Georgian Airways offered the 40,000 passengers, who had already bought tickets, to fly from Moscow to Tbilisi and back via Yerevan.

The Georgian authorities have estimated the potential losses from the reduction in the number of Russian tourists at 710 million US dollars. The decision of the Russian authorities to ban flights to and from Georgia is an unreasonable measure that will "adversely affect" citizens of both countries, the European Union has stated.

According to Evgeny Ditrikh, the Russian Minister of Transports, about 4500 Russians failed to give away or exchange their tickets and are now in Georgia. By the moment of the decision to stop air traffic with Georgia, there were about 54,000 Russian citizens there, the minister said.