“Any flights from an illegally opened airport in occupied Abkhazia, which is not certified by the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency and where the Georgian side cannot ensure aviation safety and security oversight, constitutes a violation of both international norms and Georgian legislation,” the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA) said in a statement.

The statement emphasizes that Georgia has been using “all international formats for years” to keep the issue of preventing international flights from the occupied territory on the agenda.

“Georgia has firm and unconditional support from the International Civil Aviation Organization on this matter,” the agency noted.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry has already addressed the situation by sending a diplomatic note to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), reiterating the country’s position that international flights from occupied Abkhazia without permission from authorized Georgian agencies are unacceptable.

The statement concludes that work continues “with the involvement of all relevant national agencies” to respond to these unauthorized flights in Georgia’s airspace “taking into account all international formats.”