The FINANCIAL — At the briefing after the Interagency Coordination Council of the Government, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava said, that around 2700 foreigners from neighboring countries of Georgia, as well as from European countries registered application to enter Georgia. Minister of Economy also stated, that there is intent to recommence flights to Greece. In addition, government continues negotiations with other airlines regarding the implementation of flights in September.
About 2,700 applications of foreign citizens looking to travel to Georgia and work remotely from the country have already been registered on the programme’s online platform developed specially for the purpose. Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava said that applications were registered from neighboring countries of Georgia as well as from European countries. Natia Turnava also noted, that there is a will to resume flights with Greece but flight confirmation has not been issued yet. With this statement Turnava responded to the Ambassador of Greece to Georgia Dimitrios Karabalis who earlier said that Greece would have been one of the first countries Georgia to resume flights with in July, local media agenda. ge reported.
Natia Turnava announced that, negotiations are underway with several airlines regarding the implementation of flights in September. “We partially opened regular flights in August, Lufthansa has been already operating, the first flight of Air France will arrive on August 9, and tomorrow the first flight of Airbaltic – Riga-Tbilisi-Riga will be implemented. Also, the company Airzena performs commercial charters. Up to 16 commercial charters are planned for the month, and most recently, a plane from Paris has arrived. We continue negotiations with other airlines not only in August but also in September and will gradually open other possible flights, of course, primarily given the epidemiological situation”, – noted the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgian Public Broadcasting wrote.
A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter Georgia long-term will have to fill out a mandatory application form and obtain preliminary confirmation required for crossing the border. While filling out the form, individuals should provide personal information, a certificate of employment and a letter giving their consent to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine. So-called long-term visitors will have to go into 14-day quarantine at their own expense. On top of that, they will also need to obtain travel insurance valid for six months, according to agenda.ge
Earlier this week, German Airline – Lufthansa resumed regular flights from Tbilisi, Georgia to Germany. During the first regular flight to Munich, all passengers were given TAV branded masks from the airport staff. Flights will be performed twice a week. Technical negotiations have been successfully completed with Air France and airBaltic and commercial flights will be resumed in the upcoming days.
Since Georgia’s inclusion on the list of safe countries, and the issuance of the recommendation on the possible reopening of borders to these countries, the Georgian Government has been engaged in active bilateral negotiations with several EU member states Agreements on the unconditional bilateral reopening of borders have already been achieved with Germany, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. The German Embassy in Georgia welcomed the Georgian government’s decision: ” We welcome the decision of the Georgian government to lift the entry restrictions for Germany. We hope that this is the beginning of normalizing travel with all EU member states. This is a priority of the German EU Council Presidency”, The embassy said in a Facebook post.
On 16 March 2020, the Commission adopted a communication recommending a temporary restriction of all non-essential travel from third countries into the EU. On 30 June the Council adopted a recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, including an initial list of countries for which member states should start lifting the travel restrictions at the external borders.
On July 31st, following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, the Council updated the list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted. As stipulated in the Council recommendation, this list will continue to be reviewed regularly and, as the case may be, updated. Georgia’s still on the updated list, while Algeria has been dropped after removing Serbia and Montenegro 2 weeks ago. Read more.
Wizz Air announced new route from Kutaisi, Georgia to Abu Dhabi
