Georgia: Political Reasons Lie behind Closure of Russian Airspace for Georgian Airlines

Georgia has still not received any information from Russia about the closure of Russian airspace to Georgian debtor airlines. According to the Georgian Civil Aviation Authority, the debts in question are 'imaginary', as the 15 companies named by the Russian authorities have long since been wound up. The Civil Aviation Authority believes that Russia has raised this issue 'for political reasons.'

Yesterday morning the Russian Central Air Traffic Control Centre announced that Russia was closing its skies to 15 Georgian airlines with debts of over USD 3.5 million.