As noted by PYOK, it’s not every day you see an airline ban a country’s president from flying with it…Georgian Airways controversially resuming flights to RussiaGeorgian Airways bans Georgia’s president over commentsBottom lineGeorgian Airways controversially resuming flights to RussiaGeorgian Airways (based in Tbilisi, not Atlanta) has just resumed flights to Russia. The airline discontinued flights to Russia as of July 2019. This has nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine — this happened after anti-Russian protests occurred in Georgia in 2019, causing Putin to ban flights to and from the country.For the past four years, service between Tbilisi and Moscow has operated via Yerevan by Aircompany Armenia aircraft. That has finally changed. The Georgian flight ban has been revoked by Putin as of May 2023, so Georgian Airways is resuming flights between Tbilisi and Moscow.As you might expect, not everyone is in favor of these flight resumptions, especially symbolically. Many people would prefer that Georgia distance itself from Russia and instead have better relations with the west, in hopes of the country maybe joining the European Union one day.Among those opposed to this flight resumption is Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichvili.Zourabichvili urged Georgian Airways to not resume flights to Russia, a request that the airline ignored. This has causedZourabichvili to say that she will boycott the airline.Georgian Airways bans Georgia’s president over commentsIf Georgia’s president doesn’t want to fly with Georgian Airways, then the airline doesn’t want her to fly with the airline either. The founder of Georgian Airways, Tamaz Gaiashvili, has said that the country’s president is now a persona non grata on Georgian Airways, and will be banned until she “apologizes before the Georgian people.”Separately, Georgian Airways published a post on its Facebook page, which it claims is from the employees of Georgian Airways. In the post, the airline says to “keep your dirty hands off Georgian Airways.” The airline states that people have been calling airline employees unpatriotic and traitors, and that’s not fair.The company emphasizes that it’s not a political organization, and is simply providing service where there’s demand. The airline claims to have no agenda other than serving the Georgian people, flying them where they want to go.Georgian Airways states that it’s “dishonesty, barbarity, and injustice to call people who have received state awards for their participation and dedication in war operations traitors.” The company also warns that you shouldn’t even “think of any provocation against the airline, otherwise you will get the harshest response provided by law.”Bottom lineGeorgian Airways is resuming nonstop flights to Russia, after the service was suspended four years ago. This comes after Putin lifted the ban on the airline flying to Russia. Georgian Airways has immediately resumed flights to Russia, presumably to meet the demand there is for this service. Not everyone is happy about this, including Georgia’s president, who urged the airline not to do this.The airline isn’t happy with the president’s criticism, so is responding to her request for a boycott with a flight ban.What do you make of this Georgian Airways situation?