TBILISI. March 24 (Interfax) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has arrived on her first official visit in Georgia, although her plane had to perform a go-around before landing at the Tbilisi airport late on Thursday.
"The Airbus A340-300 plane of the German foreign minister landed at Tbilisi International Airport on its second approach at about 11:00 p.m. Tbilisi time yesterday," the Sakaeronavigatsia air navigation company said in a statement on Friday.
It categorically dismissed a report by Der Spiegel claiming that the German foreign minister's plane "experienced problems because of the presence of another plane on the runway."
Der Spiegel said earlier that the German foreign minister's plane had to go around while approaching to land because the runway was obstructed by another plane. While it was scheduled to land at Tbilisi International Airport at 11:00 p.m., the German plane ultimately managed to do it only at 11:20 p.m., it said.
Sakaeronavigatsia denied the report, saying that the runway was completely free. "Preliminary findings indicate that this [go-around maneuver] was entirely the pilot's decision," it said.
The crew's decision to go around while approaching to land is a normal established practice and is not considered an incident, Sakaeronavigatsia said.
The German embassy in Tbilisi said Baerbock's official visit schedule for Friday includes her meetings with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili.
While in Tbilisi, Baerbock also plans to meet with Georgian students and members of nongovernmental organizations and opposition. She also intends to visit the border with South Ossetia and see the work of the European Union's Monitoring Mission to Georgia (EUMM), it said.
"The main subjects of the meetings will be Germany's support for Georgia on its path to integrate with the European Union and NATO and reforms necessary for that," it said.