Austrian Airlines will launch direct regular flights linking Vienna and Tbilisi from May.

The airline will carry passengers between Tbilisi International Airport and the Austrian capital city 3 times a week.

Irakli Karkashadze, the Director General of the United Airports of Georgia, said negotiations with the airline had been “successfully concluded” following the European Council’s decision to grant the country the European Union candidate status last week.

As he added, Austria was “one of the in-demand airline markets” both for tourist and business visits, and added Georgian airports had received 68,021 passengers from Vienna.