Georgian Airports Show Increase of Passenger Numbers

In the first three months of 2017, the number of passengers moving through Georgian airports has increased by 43.62 %, while air cargo operations increased by 86.96%, according to information announced by the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency (GCAA).

621,828 passengers were transported through regular and charter flights by Georgian airports in the first three months of 2017, which makes for a 43.62% increase over the 432,959 passengers in the same period last year.

The GCAA states the passenger number increase is seen in all Georgian airports. Tbilisi International Airport has served 528,145 passengers in the past three months, showing an increase of 41.29% compared to the same period in 2016. 

Kutaisi International Airport has seen an 81% increase in passenger numbers, reaching 68,369 in the first three months of 2017, while Batumi Airport served 23,696 passengers in the same time period, which is 14.19% higher than the previous year. The GCAA states that that these are not the highest peaks for passenger numbers for Batumi International Airport, as the number of regular and charter flights are expected to grow during the summer season.

Mestia airport, meanwhile, served 1,424 passengers in the first three months of 2017, an increase of 107.88%. The Ambrolauri airport received passengers for the first time and from mid-January to mid-March served 194 passengers.

The Georgian Civil Aviation Agency states there were 3,467 passenger and cargo flights (2,799 regular and 668 charter) which is 32% higher compared to the previous year (2,622).

Overall Georgian air space usage has increased by 11.56%: there were 27,627 flight units in 2016 and 30,822 flight units in 2017.

The first three months of 2017 also showed an increase in air freight, reaching 8,982,414 tons, an 86.89% increase from the previous year.  

Nino Gugunishvili