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Georgia,
Travel - International
Note: All travel to the breakaway regions of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, the Pankisi gorge beyond Akhmeta and the Svaneti region (northwest Georgia) should be avoided because of the heightened military and police tensions in these regions. On Feb 1 2005, there was a car bomb explosion in the city of Gori, located between Tbilisi and South Ossetia; the motive is unknown. Travelling alone in Georgia should be avoided and all precautions against the high levels of crime, including kidnapping, should be undertaken. However, travel to Ajara is possible since tensions have eased.
Air: Airzena Georgian Airlines (A9) (website: www.airzena.com), the national airline, operates regular flights from Athens, Frankfurt/M, Kiev, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Tel Aviv and Vienna. For further information, contact their offices in Paris (tel: (1) 4801 6724; fax: (1) 4801 6758). British Mediterranean, a franchise partner of British Airways, operates two direct scheduled flights per week to Tbilisi from London Heathrow; contact British Airways for details of flights (tel: (0870) 551 1155). Other airlines serving Georgia include Aeroflot, Air Ukraine, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Turkish Airlines.
Approximate flight times: From Tbilisi to London is six hours 45 minutes; to New York is 15 hours (both times include stopovers); and to Paris is four hours 45 minutes.
International airports: Tbilisi (TBS) is 16km (9 miles) east of Tbilisi city centre. Buses and taxis are available to the city centre (travel time – 30 minutes). Airport facilities include banks/bureaux de change, bars, restaurants, duty free shops, first aid and left luggage. In winter, power failures may affect the airport.
Departure tax: None.
Sea: The main ports are Batumi, Poti and Sukhumi. Batumi and Poti provide international connections with the Black Sea ports of Istanbul, Odessa, Sochi and Trabzon and the Mediterranean ports of Genoa and Piraeus.
Rail: The Transcaucasian railway operates services between Baku (Azerbaijan) and Yerevan (Armenia). The main line runs towards the Russian Federation through Georgia along the Black Sea coast. War in the breakaway region of Abkhazia has adversely affected Georgia’s rail link with Russia and it is mainly used for transportation of cargo.
Road: Highways connect Georgia with the Russian Federation in the north via the Caucasian Road Tunnel (currently closed) and the Georgian Military Highway which runs south through Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan via the Dariali Gorge. At present, visitors are advised not to cross the Georgia–Russia border in either direction.
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