TBILISI, May 19 Representatives of the largest Georgian opposition party » The United National Movement and their supporters gathered on Friday evening in Tbilisi on Rustaveli Avenue in front of the parliament building to stage a protest in connection with the restoration of direct flights to Russia, a correspondent reports.
Several hundred people came to the rally despite the rain. The avenue adjacent to the Parliament is not blocked, the traffic is free.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian airline «Azimuth» made the first direct flight from Moscow to Tbilisi after the decision of the Russian leadership to restore air traffic between the countries. Opponents of this decision gathered at the Tbilisi airport on Friday afternoon, during the action 6 people were detained. They tried to break through the police cordon that prevented them from entering the airport building.
Earlier on Friday, the Federal Air Transport Agency issued a permit for flights between Tbilisi and Moscow to the Georgian airline Georgian Airways.
Earlier, the Russian airline «Azimuth» also received the appropriate permission from the aviation authorities of Georgia to fly between the capitals of the two countries with a frequency of seven times a week.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin earlier abolished the visa regime with Georgia, and also lifted the ban for Russian airlines on direct flights to the country.