The European country known for its wine and thermal baths to launch first direct flights from the UK in four years

THE UK is set to be linked with a lesser-visited European destination, known for its wine and thermal baths, with brand new direct flights.

Since 2020, a direct route hasn’t flown between the UK and Georgia, when airline Air Georgian ceased operations.

However, that’s set to change, with Air Iveria launching new flights that will connect the two places.

The new route will fly direct from London Gatwick to Tbilisi from May 13 this year, with three flights per week.

Georgia hopes that the new route will increase tourism in the Eastern European country.

There are plenty of reasons to visit Georgia too that people might not be aware of.

Included in that is the wine produced in the region, with some people crediting the country as being the nation where wine was first produced.

claimed: “Georgia is widely renowned as the birthplace of wine and has been making wine for thousands of years.

“It is sometimes referred to as ‘The Cradle of Wine’.”

As well as wine, hot springs are among the other best reasons to visit, with places like the Tbilisi Balneological Resort famous for its warm year-round outdoor bathing.

listed the site as the number one hot spring to visit in the whole of the country, with plenty of therapeutic treatments available to guests.

They wrote: “The modernised rehabilitation and healing complex of today features a panoply of treatments and therapies, along with more than 30 doctors and other medical professionals.”

Tbilisi itself has more than enough to look at during a weekend stay.

Sites like the Narikala Fortress and the Holy Trinity Cathedral are more than worth pausing for a photograph, while the old town shows what historic Tbilisi would’ve been like.

The food in Georgia is described as “arguably one of the world’s most underrated cuisines” by travel consultancy .

The country is right in the middle of Europe and Asia and has a cuisine that combines flavours from both continents.

Khinkali are Georgia’s answer to dumplings, with meat, vegetables and cheese stuffed into dough and then steamed or boiled.

Kebabs and lamb stews are also popular, while breads like Khachapuri – a Georgian cheese bread sometimes served with a fried egg on top – are also very popular.

Elsewhere, the sub-tropical city of Batumi is known as both a “party capital” and a place to explore nature, with plenty on offer for people of all persuasions.

Its food and culture are also both significant reasons why people from all over choose to pay a visit.

The Black Sea waters that can be found on Batumi’s shores are so inviting that they have been renamed the “Hospitable Sea” by Greek visitors, with an average annual sea temperature of 16.7C.

Georgia’s a pretty inexpensive city to visit as well, with a night for two in Tbilisi available from around £10 and a night in Batumi costing around £6.

Plenty of other new flights are being launched from the UK this year too.

Dalaman and Antalya, Turkey

Corendon Airlines has planned hundreds of new flights between the UK and Turkey for this summer.

New services will be added from several UK airports to Turkey’s Dalaman and Antalya regions.

their flights will operate from airports like London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol and Glasgow.

Portugal, Spain, Greece and Bulgaria – Jet2

Holiday operator Jet2 will be launching hundreds of new flights from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport this year.

The flights will start on March 28, 2024, and include seven exclusive routes from Liverpool.

his includes Madeira in Portugal, Gran Canaria and Menorca in Spain, Rhodes, Zante and Paphos in Greece and Bourgas, Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, this fancy McDonald’s is also another landmark that people visit in Georgia.

And these are the holiday destinations you should avoid in 2024 according to experts.