On July 22, 2008 the Government of Georgia and the Federal Council of Switzerland signed the agreement about the “regular air traffic movement” in the State Chancellery of Georgia. On behalf of Georgia the agreement was signed by the Minister of Economic Development Ekaterine Sharashidze and on behalf of Switzerland the document was signed by the Ambassador of Switzerland to Georgia Mr. Lorenzo Amberg.
The signature of the above-mentioned agreement became possible after Georgia announced the so-called “open sky” policy in the field of civic aviation.
According to the agreement, the air companies are given the opportunity to independently define the tariffs, capacity and frequency of flights. They can conduct flights to/from any existing locations in both countries used for conducting flights (or that can be used for conducting flights). Besides, the agreement includes a clause that grants the air companies such commercial rights as the transportation of passengers/cargo from the second to the third country – the so-called “5th air freedom”. This will allow the Georgian air companies to conduct flights to any European countries via Switzerland and the Swiss companies to conduct flights from Georgia eastwards. It is worth noting that the two countries did not have any agreement on air traffic movement before that.
It is not yet known which airlines will conduct flights between Georgia and Switzerland. Georgian Airways and Georgian National Airlines have expressed interest as well as several Swiss companies including Swiss Air, the major Swiss airline. Georgia has signed similar air traffic agreements almost all European states and the USA.
