Tbilisi International Airport
Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
Owner | United Airports of Georgia LLC | ||||||||||||||
Operator | TAV Airports Holding | ||||||||||||||
Serves | Tbilisi | ||||||||||||||
Location | Tbilisi, Georgia | ||||||||||||||
Hub for | |||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 1,624 ft / 495 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°40′09″N 044°57′17″E / 41.66917°N 44.95472°E | ||||||||||||||
Website | https://tbilisiairport.com/ | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Helipads | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||||||
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Source: Georgian EUROCONTROL[1] |
Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport (Georgian: თბილისის შოთა რუსთაველის სახელობის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტი) (IATA: TBS, ICAO: UGTB), is the busiest international airport in Georgia, located 17 km (11 mi) southeast of capital Tbilisi. The airport handled 3.7 million passengers in 2019.
Over 45 airlines operate from the airport, with nonstop or direct flights to over 25 countries.[2][3]
Tbilisi Airport is a hub for Georgian Airways, flag carrier of Georgia, as well as for Georgian Wings, MyWay Airlines and Camex.
In 2015, Tbilisi City Assembly named the airport after famous medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. [4]
General
Tbilisi Airport is home to Georgian flag carrier Georgian Airways and MyWay Airlines, which was founded in 2017. The airport is served by approximately 30 airlines, mainly from Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia serving roughly 30 destinations out of Tbilisi. Due to the increasing popularity of Georgia and the city of Tbilisi as a tourist destination, the number of travelers grew since 2010 from 1 million to almost 4 million until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The airspace of Georgia was closed for most of 2020 with the exception of government-mandated expatriation flights,[5] but regular international air traffic resumed as of February 2021.
Following a political row in June 2019, Russia banned flights to and from Georgia starting July 8, 2019.[6] Georgian Airways from Tbilisi to Moscow-Vnukovo have since been operated by Aircompany Armenia through Yerevan. The ban was still in effect at the end of 2021. The Kremlin has also banned all Russian airlines from flying to Georgia. A similar ban was in effect during 2006–2008.[7]
The George W. Bush Avenue (Kakheti Highway) leads from the airport to the center of Tbilisi.[8] A train service is available as well opposite the exit of the airport building. The train leaves twice a day from the modernist station that opened in 2007.
History
In 1981 Tbilisi airport was the 12th largest airport in the Soviet Union, with 1,478,000 passengers on so-called central lines, which were flights connecting Tbilisi with cities in other Soviet republics.[10] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the civil war and the economic crisis in the newly independent Georgia, passenger numbers had dropped to 230,000 by 1998.[11]
Tbilisi International Airport is operated by
Modernisation
February 2007 saw the completion of a US$90.5 million reconstruction project, with the construction of a new international terminal, a car park, improvements to the apron, taxiway and runway and the acquisition of ground handling equipment and an annual passenger capacity of 2.8 million.
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2007 departure lounge
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Ground floor check-in
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Spacious passport control
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New arrivals, 2017
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Tbilisi Airport station
In 2016, the main runway of the airport was renovated and equipped with new navigation lighting. Runway guard lights, LED stop bar signals and guidance signs at all the holding positions on the airport's main runway were also added The
A new
Airlines and destinations
Tbilisi airport mainly serves destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Below are destinations served according to press releases and the schedules authorised by the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency on a seasonal basis.[19] Last updated May 2023.
Passenger
Cargo
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Luxembourg[19]
| |
Silk Way West Airlines | Baku[56] |
Turkish Cargo | Istanbul, İzmir[19] |
Statistics
Annual passenger statistics Tbilisi International Airport[57] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Passengers | Change |
| ||
2023 | 3,694,205[58] | 23% | |||
2022 | 2,998,785[59] | 78% | |||
2021 | 1,683,696 | 185% | |||
2020 | 590,089 | 84.0% | |||
2019 | 3,692,202 | 3.1% | |||
2018 | 3,808,619 | 20.4% | |||
2017 | 3,164,139 | 40.5% | |||
2016 | 2,252,535 | 22.0% | |||
2015 | 1,847,111 | 17.3% | |||
2014 | 1,575,386 | 9.7% | |||
2013 | 1,436,046 | 17.8% | |||
2012 | 1,219,175 | 15.2% | |||
2011 | 1,058,679 | 28.7% | |||
2010 | 822,772 | 17.1% | |||
2009 | 702,916 | 1.7% | |||
2008 | 714,976 | 16.1% | |||
2007 | 615,873 | 8.5% | |||
2006 | 567,402 | 3.7% | |||
2005 | 547,150 |
Country | Destination | Airport | Weekly flights | Airlines |
---|---|---|---|---|
Turkey | Istanbul | Istanbul Airport, Sabiha Gökçen Airport | 52 | AnadoluJet (1 daily)
|
Israel | Tel Aviv | Ben Gurion Airport | 23 | (2 weekly) |
UAE | Dubai | Dubai-International | 21 | flydubai (3 daily) |
Azerbaijan | Baku | Heydar Aliyev Airport |
21 | Buta Airways (3 daily) |
Armenia | Yerevan | Zvartnots International Airport | 21 | Aircompany Armenia (2 daily), FlyOne Armenia (4 weekly), Fly Arna (3 weekly)
|
See also
- Georgian Civil Aviation Administration
- List of the busiest airports in the former USSR
- List of airports in Georgia
- Transport in Georgia
References
- ^ "EAD Basic". Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
- ^ "Airport Route Map". Tbilisi International Airport. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Airlines". Tbilisi International Airport. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "თბილისის საერთაშორისო აეროპორტს შოთა რუსთაველის სახელი მიენიჭა" [Tbilisi International Airport was named after Shota Rustaveli]. GHN (in Georgian). 30 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Georgia resumes regular flights today". Agenda.ge. 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Putin's Ban On Direct Russia-Georgia Flights Comes Into Force". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 8 July 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Moscow ends Georgian flight embargo". France 24. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Tbilisi Officials Name Street After Bush". Associated Press News. 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ISBN 3-936890-39-0.
- JSTOR 215304.
- ^ (13–15). Stroudgate: Chartered Institute of Transport in the UK. 1998: 97.
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- ^ "Azimuth Adds Moscow – Georgia Routes in NW23". AeroRoutes. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
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- ^ "მაისიდან ახალი ავიაკომპანია Condor Airlines იწყებს საქართველოში ოპერირებას (New airline Condor Airlines will start operating in Georgia in May)". Formula News (in Georgian). 16 February 2022. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
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- ^ a b "Georgian Airways June 2023 Network Additions". AeroRoutes. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
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- ^ "Pars Air launches Shiraz-Tbilisi flights". 22 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
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External links
- Media related to Tbilisi International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Current weather for UGTB at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for TBS at Aviation Safety Network