Civil Aviation Agency pledges full compliance after US sanctions expand to airlines operating Georgia–Iran routes

The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA) has issued an official statement reaffirming its adherence to international sanctions enforcement across the aviation sector.

The agency emphasised that when granting foreign carriers access to the national aviation market, Georgia strictly aligns its decisions with domestic legislation, standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and applicable bilateral and multilateral international agreements.

“Georgia actively enforces and ensures compliance with sanction regimes imposed by our international partners. This commitment extends fully to the civil aviation sector.

In determining market access for foreign carriers, Georgia operates strictly within the framework of national law, ICAO global standards, and international aviation treaties, while fully taking into account sanctions mechanisms established by the European Union and the United States.

Furthermore, to safeguard passengers, domestic aviation operations, and aviation infrastructure, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency has for years utilised the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) maintained by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), alongside all other OFAC-administered sanctions lists, as an additional supervisory tool. Under this oversight mechanism, Georgia has previously restricted several non-compliant airlines from operating in its airspace.

Georgia will continue to rigorously uphold international requirements and maintain these compliance mechanisms in the future. Consequently, given that the expanded sanctions list issued by the US Department of State includes airlines currently operating flights between Georgia and Iran, the Georgian side will, as in all previous cases, act in full compliance with international sanction regimes,” the statement read.