An air traffic controller at the Tbilisi International Airport has made waves on local social media after his exchange with a French flight crew struck a patriotic chord with Georgian Facebook users.

Giorgi Saralidze, an employee at the principal airport of the country, was on duty when the crew of a transit flight over the capital contacted him for confirmation on contact.

Following the controller’s response, he was thanked by the French crew which used a Russian word for gratitude — presumably due to a legacy of usage of the language for the Caucasus region in the Soviet era.

The Georgian responder then turned the inadvertent mistake of the aircraft crew into a humorous reply by using a German term for “you are welcome” in his follow-up communication.

Puzzled by the introduction of German in the exchange, the Air France flight suggested their nationality to Saralidze, who then responded by noting their mistake in using the Russian, instead of Georgian, word for “thank you”.

The air traffic controller received lively comments on his social media after his exchange with the flight crew went viral among Georgian Facebook users.

The reactions centred around amusement on the airport professional’s humorous form of response and involved praise of his “patriotic duty”.