Georgia denied landing for a charter plane carrying the players of Kazakhstan's Aktobe FC, the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia said.
The reason for the refusal to accept the flight was that it was carried out by the Russian airline UVT AERO, which is under sanctions and is included into EU's "black list".
In addition, the manufacturer's restrictions are imposed on the aircraft on which the flight was carried out.
Considering the above reasons, the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia did not issue a flight permit to the mentioned airline. On the basis of the new application, the flight was performed by the Kazakh airline SCAT Airlines, which was granted permission by the agency in the “shortest possible time, within two hours." The charter flight landed at Kutaisi International Airport at 08:45, the agency said in its statement.
Kazakhstan’s Aktobe football club will play Georgia’s Torpedo Kutaisi in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
In its statement, Aktobe claimed its partner Sanjar Tour - which it said had provided air travel services to the club over the past five years - had sent information on the charter flight to the Georgian agency “on time”, before the application was rejected early on Wednesday “without the reasons being explained”.
The club had to hold its pre-match training at a stadium in the Kazakh city of Aktau, instead of the session being hosted in Georgia, it added.
The Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in Kutaisi will host the game of the second qualifying round between the clubs at 9 pm.
Source: BMG & News Agencies
