British Airways [BA] has launched regular flights on the London-Tbilisi-London route. The company held a presentation for Georgian tourism companies in connection with the launch of the new direct flight. The information is released by the Georgian National Tourism Administration [GNTA].

As part of the presentation, Head of the GNTA, Maia Omiadze, met with BA’ Regional Commercial Manager, Emil Delibashev. The meeting discussed British Airways’ latest products and services. Future tourism cooperation was also discussed, which will help increase tourist flows from Great Britain to Georgia and raise awareness about the country.

“The Great Britain is one of the most strategic tourism markets for Georgia. “We constantly implement campaigns, and this year the GNTA is conducting large-scale marketing campaigns with redoubled efforts, both through social media and with the involvement of international companies, including BA. Throughout the year, British journalists and bloggers will visit Georgia. We will try to make awareness campaigns about Georgia more extensive and bring many more British travelers to Georgia”, - said Maia Omiadze.

“We are delighted that BA’ first inaugural flight was completely full of passengers. This shows the great potential and interest of British visitors to travel to Georgia. We have a very good history; our predecessor airline, British Mediterranean Airways, flew to Georgia from 1997 to 2013. We have now returned with an Airbus-320neo liner, which is completely new. The interest in the Georgian route exceeds all our expectations”, - added Emil Delibashev.

Nearly 40 Georgian companies that are members of the International Air Transport Association [IATA] were represented at the event.

“We are very happy that BA has entered Georgia. It hasn’t flown to Georgia for a long time, and its return is a great achievement. This will help bring tourist flows to Georgia, as well as outbound travel. Today’s presentation was very interesting; the airline has many frequencies, and we hope sales in this direction will be very high. BA has a large army of loyal customers worldwide. I have great hope that these flights will contribute to bringing high-spending tourists to Georgia”, - said Nino Namgaladze, director of Via Travel.

Besides, according to Teimuraz Ergeshidze, director of Horizon Air, BA’ entry will greatly facilitate tourist flows to Georgia, both from Great Britain and other countries: “Our operators received very important information at today’s presentation. British Airways is one of the world’s leading airlines, which will allow us to cover many cities, including the USA. British Airways’ entry will greatly facilitate tourist flows to Georgia, both from Great Britain and other countries”.

British Airways will operate direct regular London-Tbilisi-London flights with a frequency of 4 times per week.