“Direct flights from St. Petersburg to Sokhumi to begin on August 14”, reports the Abkhaz news agency Apsnypress.
According to the agency, until now, traveling from Russia’s “northern capital” to Sokhumi was only possible with layovers.
The first direct flights are scheduled for August 14 and 20, operated by the airline iFly using Airbus A330 aircraft. Preliminary information suggests that additional flights will follow.
Sokhumi Airport was reopened on May 1, 2025, after a 32-year pause, following reconstruction by the Russian side.
The Georgian government described the reopening of Sokhumi Airport as alarming and called on the Russian Federation to fulfill its international obligations — including compliance with the Convention of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the EU-mediated August 12, 2008 ceasefire agreement.
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Sokhumi is the main city of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia — a region internationally recognized as part of Georgia but currently under Russian occupation and has a de facto government. Russian military forces are stationed in the area, which is separated from the rest of Georgia by a so-called “occupation line.” Tens of thousands of Georgians have been forcibly displaced as a result of the military conflict over 3 decades ago.
