MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

On February 26-27, within the Kingdom of Thailand government delegation visit to Georgia, a meeting between the aviation authorities of the two countries was held at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. The main purpose of the meeting was to negotiate the text of the Agreement on Air Traffic between the Government of Georgia and the Government of the Thailand, following the desire of the Thai airlines to launch direct flights to Georgia.

It was said at the meeting that the agreement will establish a legal base in the field of air transport between the two countries, which will make the operation of the direct flights between Georgia and the Kingdom of Thailand even more attractive, expand the flight area, deepen trade and economic relations and develop tourism.

After adopting the text of the Agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties, defining separate conditions and procedures for performing direct regular flights between the two countries. It is noteworthy that airlines interested in signing the Memorandum are allowed to start operating direct regular flights before the signing of the intergovernmental agreement and before its entry into force.

Number of tourists from Thailand to Georgia is increasing, in particular: the number of visitors in 2019 was 12 320, which is four times higher number compared to 2018 (with 3194 tourists). However, the Thai airline has already expressed interest in flying to Georgia - last year AirAsia X had already carried out five charter flights, and plans to carry out 49 tourist charter flights this year and the company has already applied to the Civil Aviation Agency for the relevant permission.