Aeroflot, Russia's flagship airline, began daily direct flights from Moscow to Tbilisi on Monday for the first time in six years, news agency Interfax reported.
Flight SU1892, an Airbus A320, left Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at 11:30 p.m. Sunday and arrived in the Georgian capital on Monday at 3 a.m. The plane took off on its return trip to Moscow again at 4:20 a.m.
Future flights will take place on a daily basis according to the same schedule, an airport information services representative told the agency.
In September, Russia's federal aviation agency Rosaviatsia announced that flights to Georgia would begin again this fall. Six other airlines were granted permission to fly the routes, including VIM-Avia, Globus, Sibir, Transaero, Ural Airlines and UTair.
Direct flights between Russia and Georgia stopped in 2008 due to strained relations over the conflict in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. In 2010, Russia's Sibir (S7) and Georgian Airways started occasional charter flights between Moscow and Yekaterinburg and Georgian cities Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi.
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