MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili met with the Heads of Chinese airlines - Hainan Airlines, Capital Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.

Deputy Minister, Mariam Kvrivishvili and Ambassador of Georgia to the People's Republic of China, Paata Kalandadze attended the meeting.

The First Vice Prime Minister spoke about the ongoing trends in the aviation sector of Georgia. According to Davitashvili, Georgia is a popular destination in the tourism industry and this has a positive impact on the development of the civil aviation - in particular, today over 60 airlines operate in Georgia with 100 regular flights to more than 30 countries around the globe. Levan Davitashvili noted that China Southern Airlines operates daily flights between Tbilisi and Urumchi. This autumn, Air China will enter the Georgian air market, which, in addition to Urumchi, plans to operate flights in the Beijing-Tbilisi direction as well.

As the First Vice Prime Minister noted, Georgia is interested in having flights from other Chinese cities as well, which will also contribute to the deepening of cooperation in the field of tourism. According to Levan Davitashvili, the introduction of visa-free travel to Georgia for Chinese citizens and the increase in the frequency of direct flights augmented the flow of tourists from China to Georgia and in 2023, compared to the previous year, by 555% more visitors from China came to Georgia. The First Vice Prime Minister stated that Georgia plans to hold more large-scale tourism activities in more Chinese cities in order to increase the awareness of our country as a tourist destination.