Georgia airline permitted charter flights to Moscow

Russia has permitted the Georgian airline Airzena to make shuttle charter flights between Tbilisi and Moscow from July 3 through late August, an airline representative said in the Georgian capital on Friday.

"The charter flights of July-August do not imply the resumption of regular air traffic between Russia and Georgia" that was suspended on October 3, 2006, the representative was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Airzena made four shuttle charter flights between Tbilisi and Moscow during Easter holidays with consent of the Russian authorities.

The arrest of four Russian officers in Georgia on spying charges late September triggered strong protests from Russia, with Putin publicly denouncing it as "an act of state terrorism."

Moscow slapped sweeping economic sanctions on Tbilisi, cutting postal, air, road, rail and sea links with Georgia a week later.

Source: Xinhua