Moscow has authorized the first direct flights between Russia and Georgia since a brief war between the two countries in August 2008, the Russian Transportation Ministry said Thursday.
"Georgian Airways will be allowed to run Tbilisi-Moscow-Tbilisi charter flights on Jan. 8-10 and Tbilisi-St. Petersburg-Tbilisi flights on Jan. 9 and 10," the ministry said.
The ministry added that the resumption of regular flights still requires negotiations.
Direct flights between Tbilisi and Moscow were halted in 2006 over a spy row between the former Soviet neighbors. The flights were resumed for a short time in 2008, but were suspended again after the five-day Caucasus war.
The Russian Transportation Ministry had earlier given permission for charter flights from Tbilisi to Moscow on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, but Georgian Airways later announced that the dates for the flights would be postponed for at least a week.